On the evening of 26 October, the Franciscan church of St Saviour in Jerusalem, hosted the celebration of the Vespers in the Maronite rite, as thanks for the canonization of the “Martyrs of Damascus,” eight Franciscan friars and three Maronite laymen.
The celebration was presided over by the Archbishop of Haifa and the Holy Land of the Maronites, Moussa Hage, and was animated by the Maronite choir who came especially from Haifa. “Praying together is a very significant experience for us. I believe that our martyrs from heaven are also rejoicing with us for this common prayer,” said the Custos of the Holy Land , Fra Francesco Patton, in his thanks to the bishop and the Maronite community. At the end of the Vespers, the Custos gave the Archbishop medals of the canonization, with the image of the martyrs on the front and the logo of the canonization on the back.
During the Vespers, attended by numerous friars and faithful, a relic of the martyrs was displayed in the altar dedicated to them. The structure of the prayer is similar to that of the Latin rite, but enriched with numerous sung hymns and more readings. For the occasion, the hymns were all dedicated to the martyrs, in particular the Massabki brothers, Maronite laymen: Francis, Abdel Mooti and Raphael.
The faith of the Massabki brothers, Archbishop Hage emphasized in his homily, was “a simple faith, deeply rooted in their daily lives. Their constant commitment to prayer, to participating in the sacraments and to charity for the poor is testimony of a spirituality that is accessible to all Christians, based on a living and working faith.” Their testimony “reminds us that, even in the most difficult circumstances, the Christian faith has the power to triumph over fear and over death” and their example “inspires us to persevere in the search for knowledge, love and service towards Jesus Christ.”
At the end of the prayer, in the large hall of the Curia of the Custody of the Holy Land, an exhibition on the Martyrs of Damascus, presenting their faces and their stories, was inaugurated. The eleven martyrs “are close to us, geographically but also spiritually, as Franciscans and Maronites,” underlines the curator, Vincenzo Zuppardo. This idea inspired the architecture of the panels, with the faces of the martyrs at the height of those of the visitors. The exhibition ends with the icon of the canonization and the prayer. “Use it to ask for grace, especially the grace we all need, the gift of peace,” said the Custos.
Marinella Bandini
