July 10 – Bl. Emmanuel and Companions

Born in Spain in 1804, Emmanuel Ruiz was a Franciscan priest and Superior in Damascus where he served with several other friars and Maronite laymen. 

During a dispute between the Maronite minority and the Muslim majority, the Maronites fell victim to a widespread attack that took the lives of thousands of Maronites in communities in and around Damascus. 

By some estimates, three thousand men were murdered in just three days. 

With Fr. Emmanuel Ruiz was Father Carmen Volta, Father Engelbert Kolland, the Assistant Procurator, and there to study Arabic; Father Nicanor Miano, Father Nicholas Mary Alberka, and Father Peter Soler, along with laymen Francis Pinazzo and John James Fernandez. All were violently attacked and murdered on this day in 1860. 

Father Ruiz died while defending The Holy Eucharist. They were Beatified in 1926 by Pope Pius XI. 

Blessed Emmanuel and Companions, please pray for us.