The Canonization of the Martyrs of Damascus

On 20 October the eleven “Martyrs of Damascus,” eight Franciscan friars and three Maronite laymen, were declared saints. They were killed in hatred of the faith in Damascus, Syria, on the night of July 9th to 10th, 1860.

The historical background

The martyrdom is placed in a context of persecution against the Christians by the Shiite Druze, which from Spring 1860 onwards spread from Lebanon to Syria. On 9 July 1860, the fanatic crowds of persecutors invaded the densely populated Christian quarter of Damascus which had about 3,800 homes, and started to carry out all sorts of violent acts, after having closed off all the ways out. That same night, a commando of rebels animated by a deeply-rooted religious hatred succeeded in breaking into the Franciscan convent of St Paul, through a hidden door indicated by a traitor: here eight Friars Minor – seven from Spain and one Austrian – and three lay Christian Maronites were barbarically slaughtered.

It immediately appeared clear to everyone that they died as martyrs: the attackers asked the eleven victims, before the fatal blows were inflicted, to renounce their Christian faith and embrace Islam, but they all firmly refused. The Martyrs of Damascus were beatified by Pius XI in 1926.

The news about the martyrs of Damascus

The heroic witnesses of the faith

Fra Manuel Ruiz López

Professed priest of the Province of the Immaculate Conception, of the Discalced or Alcantarine Minors (1804-1860)

Manuel Ruiz López, superior of the convent, was born in 1804 in San Martín de las Ollas, Burgos, Spain.

He entered the Friars Minor in 1825 and was ordained a priest in 1830. The next year, he was sent to the Holy Land where, after having learned the local languages, he carried out a fertile apostolate. Forced to return to Europe in 1847 for health reasons, he went back to the Holy Land in 1858.

On the night of the massacre, as soon as the rebels broke into the convent, he ran into the church to consume the species of the Eucharist, but was killed at the foot of the altar.

Carmelo Bolta Bañuls

Professed priest of the Province of St Francis of Valencia, of the Observant Friars Minor (1803-1860)

Carmelo Bolta Bañuls, parish priest, was born in 1803 in Real de Gandía, Valencia, Spain.

He entered the Friars Minor in 1825 and was ordained a priest in 1829. In 1831, he left for the Holy Land where he lived in the convents of Jaffa, Damascus and Ain Karem, and in the Shrine of the Visitation. In 1851, he was transferred to Damascus, having been appointed parish priest and Arabic teacher.

Engelbert Kolland

Professed priest of the Province of St Leopold of Tyrol, of the Reformed Minorites (1827-1860)

Engelbert Kolland, the parish vicar, was born in Ramsau, Salzburg, Austria in 1827.

He entered the Friars Minor in 1847 and was ordained a priest in 1851. He arrived in the Holy Land in April 1855. He carried out his missionary apostolate first in the convent of the Holy Sepulchre, then in Damascus, where he was greatly loved by the population. On the night of the massacre, he was the only religious to die outside the convent.

Nicanor Ascanio Soria

Professed priest of the Province of Castile, of the Observant Friars Minor (1814-1860)

Was born in Villarejo de Salvanés, Madrid, Spain in 1814.

He entered the Friars Minor in 1839. Due to the religious suppression, he was ordained a priest in the diocesan clergy. With the reopening of the College for the Missions of Priego di Cuenca, he was able to enter the Friars Minor in 1858. He arrived in the Holy Land in February 1859 and was sent to the Damascus convent. His willingness for martyrdom was a constant note of his spirituality.

Nicolás María Alberca Torres

Priest of the Missionary College of Priego (Cuenca), of the Minor Observant (1830-1860)

Nicolás María Alberca Torres was born in 1830 in Aguilar de la Frontera, Córdoba, Spain.

Already a religious of the Brothers of the Jesús Nazareno Hospital of Cordoba, he entered the Friars Minor in 1856 and was ordained a priest in 1858.

Called to missionary life, he arrived in the Holy Land in 1859 and was sent to the convent in Damascus to learn Arabic.

Pedro Nolasco Soler Méndez

Priest of the Missionary College of Priego (Cuenca), of the Minor Observant (1827-1860)

Pedro Nolasco Soler Méndez was born in 1827 in Lorca, Murcia, Spain.

After some work experience, he entered the Friars Minor at the age of twenty-nine in 1856 and was ordained a priest in 1857.

The following year he made a request for the mission of the Custody of the Holy Land, where he arrived on 20 February 1859. Sent to St Paul’s Convent in Damascus, he was there just over a year.

Francisco Pinazo Peñalver

Professed religious of the Province of St. Francis of Valencia, Observant Friars Minor (1802-1860)

Was born in 1802 in the village of El Chopo di Alpuente, Valencia, Spain.

He was admitted to the novitiate of the Friars Minor in 1831. As a lay brother, he was a sacristan until 1835, the year of the religious suppression in Spain.

In order to be able to re-embrace community life, he opted for the Custody of the Holy Land, which he reached in October 1843. For some 17 years he was cook and tailor in various convents. He was acting as sacristan in the Damascus convent at the time of his martyrdom.

Juan Jacob Fernández

Professed religious of the Province of St. James of Compostella, of the Observant Friars Minor (1808-1860)

Juan Jacob Fernández was born in 1808 in Moire, Ourense, Spain.

In 1831 he entered the Friars Minor as a lay brother. Unfortunately, the suppression in 1835 interrupted his experience of convent life for a few years.

In 1858, he asked to be associated with the Custody of the Holy Land. In 1859 he arrived at the Damascus convent as cook.

Francesco Massabki

Francis Massabki, a Maronite Christian, silk merchant, was well known in Damascus and esteemed as an honest and pious man.

Married and the father of eight children, all brought up according to Christian values, he gave an example of great generosity everywhere, especially with the poor and needy. He was linked to the Franciscan friars for whom he acted as an authorized representative.

Together with his brothers Mooti and Raphael, he was at St Paul’s Convent at the time of the martyrdom.

Abdel Mooti Massabki

Abdel Mooti Massabki lived with his wife and five children in the same house as his elder brother, Francis.

He went to St Paul’s convent every day, both to pray and to teach in the local children’s school.

Ready to shed his blood for Christ, as he taught in his catechism lessons, he did not hesitate to offer his life in the name of the faith.

Raffaele Massabki

Raphael Massabki, the youngest brother of Francis and Mooti, a bachelor, willingly helped his brothers and family; he was greatly devoted to the Virgin Mary and dwelled at length in prayer in the convent.

He was still in St Paul’s Convent on the night between 9 and 10 July 1860, when the Druze broke in and then killed him with his two brothers.

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