Cardinal Beshara Boutros Rai, Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, has published an encylical dedicated to the lives of the Three Massabki Brothers, Blessed Martyrs.

From the introduction:

The Blessed Lay Brothers, the Martyrs Francis, Abdul-Mooti and Raphael Massabki, from Damascus, who in their lives gave a wonderful testimony of their faith, and then sealed it with the testimony of their blood on the night of 9-10 July 1860, preferring death over the denial of Christ, are braiding upon the head of our Maronite Church a new crown of glory.

His Holiness Pope Francis has kindly accepted the petition to count them among the saints, in his interview with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, on the morning of Saturday, December 17, 2022.

This encyclical contains four chapters: the first examines the radiance of the lives of the three Massabki brothers, the second addresses their martyrdom, the third covers the martyrdom of the Christians of Damascus, and the fourth studies their beatification and preparation for canonization. The references from which they were drawn are The Book of Mrs. Maryam Sfeir Al-Daya: The Blessed