The image of Manuel Ruiz and his companion martyrs- better known as the “Martyrs of Damascus” - which will be used at the  ceremony of canonization , on 20 October next, has been published. The image has been commissioned by the General Postulation of the Order of the Friars Minor and was created by the illustrator Andrea Pucci. A note by the postulation accompanies the image, describing it and explaining the iconographic choices.

United around the Eucharist

The holy martyrs of Damascus – eight Franciscan friars of the Custody of the Holy Land and three lay Maronites - are shown as a single fraternity around the Eucharist. The holy Massabki brothers had a relationship of familiarity and close collaboration with the religious. Francis was the authorized representative of the convent, Mooti an educator in the children’s school and Raphael was always available for any necessity. St Manuel Ruiz, superior of the convent, is placed in the centre with a red stole and holding the pyx with the Eucharist Species. From the papers of the martyrdom, we learn that on the evening of 9 July 1869, as they were in a situation of grave danger, everyone in the convent – friars and laymen - gathered in the church to pray, confess and receive the Eucharist, to find in it the force to face the ordeal.  When the assassins broke in, St Manuel Ruiz immediately went to the tabernacle to consume the remaining pieces, so that they would not be profaned. It was on the very altar that he fell, a victim of odium fidei.

The composition

On the right, next to Ruiz, there are St Carmelo Bolta and, kneeling, St Pedro Soler, one of the youngest of the community. The former was the vicar of the community and shows the cross of Jerusalem, they symbol of the Custody of the Holy Land. On the left of the composition, there are the three holy Massabki brothers:  St Francis shows the coat-of-arms of the Maronite Catholic patriarch, St Mooti holds a branch of palm, the symbol of martyrdom and  St Raphael, the youngest of the three, has his hands joined, recalling his love of prayer. Crowning these figures, the other five Franciscan martyred saints are shown. The closest resemblance possible to their real physiognomy has been attempted, referring to the authentic portraits which the postulation received, or the images of worship created after their beatification and consolidated in the popular imagination.

Your names are written in heaven

As decorative enrichment and almost as a litany, the names of each one are shown in Latin characters, corresponding to the respective figures. This unnecessary detail was wanted as a reference to the  canvas painted in 1926   (the year of the beatification) by the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary sisters, where the names, graphically much smaller, were shown in the haloes. For the background, the color of the sky has been chosen, while below,  copied faithfully from old 19th century photographs, the city of Damascus is shown, the place of the martyrdom and the community on which the holy martyrs exercised their special protection.