A Maronite Catholic layman of Damascus martyred with his brothers in the anti-Christian massacre of 1860, canonized by Pope Francis in 2024.

Saint Rūfayīl Masābkī was a Maronite Catholic layman of Damascus, Syria, killed on July 10, 1860, together with his brothers Fransīs and Abd al-Mu’tī Masābkī during the massacre of Christians that swept the city that summer. The three brothers were among thousands of Damascus Christians killed in the violence, and their deaths, long venerated locally, were formally recognized with beatification in 1926 and canonisation in 2024.

Quick Facts

• Died: July 10, 1860, Damascus, Syria
• Venerated as: Layperson of Damascus (Maronite Rite), martyr
• Companions/Brothers: Saints Fransīs Masābkī and Abd al-Mu’tī Masābkī
• Beatified: 1926
• Canonized: 2024

Who Was Saint Rūfayīl Masābkī?

Rūfayīl Masābkī was a lay member of the Maronite Catholic community of Damascus, one of three brothers from the same family who died together as martyrs in the summer of 1860. He and his brothers Fransīs and Abd al-Mu’tī were killed on July 10 of that year amid a violent uprising against the city’s Christian population, one of the most devastating episodes of anti-Christian violence in nineteenth-century Ottoman Syria.

Historical Setting

In July 1860, sectarian tensions that had been building across Mount Lebanon and greater Syria erupted into a massacre of the Christian quarter of Damascus, in which several thousand Christians, most of them Catholic and Orthodox, were killed over the course of several days, and much of the Christian district of the city was destroyed. The violence drew international attention and led to French intervention and reforms in Ottoman governance of the region, but not before an enormous loss of life among Damascus’s ancient Christian community.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Rūfayīl Masābkī

The Church remembers Rūfayīl Masābkī and his brothers as lay martyrs who refused to save themselves by renouncing their Christian faith when the mob came for the Christian quarter of Damascus. Their joint martyrdom, alongside the eight Franciscan friars killed in the same massacre, became one of the defining Catholic memories of the 1860 events, and their 2024 canonisation by Pope Francis brought fresh universal recognition to a nearly century-and-a-half-old local devotion.

Canonization and Feast Day

The production register records Rūfayīl Masābkī’s beatification in 1926 and his canonisation in 2024, alongside his brothers, as part of the wider group of martyrs of the 1860 Damascus massacre.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

The Masābkī brothers’ choice to stand with their faith and their community rather than flee or convert under mortal threat speaks powerfully to Christians today living amid religious tension or minority status. Their witness, shared among three brothers of one family, also honors the particular bond of family members who support one another to the very end in living out their faith.

A Prayer to Saint Rūfayīl Masābkī

Saint Rūfayīl Masābkī, layman and martyr of Damascus, you stood firm in the faith alongside your brothers when death threatened your household. Protect Christian families in places of danger, and grant us the courage to hold fast to Christ whatever the cost. Amen.

Sources

• Vatican.va (canonisation announcement, 2024)
• Roman Martyrology
• EWTN