10th July - Blessed Emmanuel Ruiz
Tertullian, one of the 2nd-century ecclesiastical writers wrote that "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church", implying that a martyr's willing sacrifice of their lives leads to the conversion of others.
Emmanuel was born in Santander, Spain. He became a Franciscan priest serving as a missionary in Damascus during a time of great persecution. During the massacre which occurred in 1860, thousands of victims were tortured and died. The villages of Lebanon were pillaged and burned. The massacre began with a quarrel between a Maronite and Druse. When a crowd came looking for them, Emmanuel and his companions refused to renounce their faith and become Muslims. Emmanuel, his supervisor and seven others were tortured and martyred. Blessed Emmanuel was beatified in 1926 by Pope Pius XI. (Catholic Faith Patron Saints)
