10th July - Blessed Emmanuel Ruiz and Companions
Love seeks one thing only… the good of the one loved. It leaves all the other secondary effects to take care of themselves. Love therefore, is its own reward - Thomas Merton.
Emmanuel, who was born in Santander, Spain, was a Franciscan priest serving as a missionary in Damascus during a time of great persecution. In 1860, a quarrel between a Maronite and Druse led to the massacre of thousands of victims and the destruction of Lebanon. When a crowd came looking for Emmanuel and his companions, they refused to renounce their faith and become Muslims. Emmanuel, his supervisor and seven others were tortured and martyred.
