BL. SALVATORE LILLI, PRIEST AND MARTYR

BL. SALVATORE LILLI, PRIEST AND MARTYR - 22 NOVEMBER

BLESSED SALVATORE LILLI, PRIEST AND MARTYR, AND HIS COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

Blessed Salvatore Lilli was born on June 19, 1853 in Cappadocia in the diocese and province of L'Aquila in Italy, a village in the Apennines west of Avezzano. His parents were Vincenzo Salvatore and Annunziata Lilli, and he was their sixth and last child.

As a 17-year-old, he joined the Ordo Fratrum Minorum (OFM) on July 24, 1870, and on August 6, 1871, he made his first vows in the monastery of Nazzaro near Rome.

HE MADE HIS VOWS

When the religious orders were dissolved by the Italian government in 1873, Salvatore went to Palestine to stay there as a missionary.

He first lived in the Franciscan monastery in Bethlehem, where he completed his philosophical studies and made his solemn vows on August 6, 1874. He then lived in Jerusalem, where he studied theology and was ordained a priest on April 6, 1878. He spent two more years in Jerusalem and served in the Church of the Holy Saviour and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

HE THEN LIVED IN JERUSALEM

In 1880, the Order sent him to Marasc in Asia Minor (Armenia), then part of the Ottoman Empire, today Turkey. There he was to serve a mission among Armenians in the diaspora in an Islamic environment.

For the next 15 years, Marasc was the scene of his tireless and effective apostolate. He seems to have been a convincing preacher, and the convent chapel soon became full as the people began to practice their faith again.

TWO NEW VILLAGES

But his influence extended beyond the boundaries of the monastery chapel. At the practical level, he established two new villages and several working arrangements. He used money donated to the church to buy land and the tools needed to work on it.

He helped people of all religions, and was particularly active during the cholera epidemic that broke out in Marasc in November 1891. He was able to care for the sick, in some places on his own, for almost six weeks without contracting the disease himself.

HE CARED FOR THE SICK DURING THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC

He also built a new chapel that was solemnly consecrated on October 4, 1893.

In 1894, Blessed Salvatore was sent as a parish priest and superior to the Franciscan house in Mujuk-Deresi. He had not yet been there a year when he found himself involved in the violent political unrest that had spread in the country since 1890.

THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE

When the extermination of the Armenian people began and Armenian Catholics were massacred in large numbers, Salvator Lilli was warned and asked of well-meaning Christians about getting to safety outside Turkey. But he said: "I can not leave my sheep alone. If necessary, I would rather die with them."

"I CANNOT LEAVE MY SHEEP ALONE"

A few days later, on November 22, 1895, the inevitable happened, and he was captured along with seven of his Armenian parishioners, simple peasants, and good Christians.

GOOD CHRISTIANS

Three days later they were taken to Marasc. According to an eyewitness, they were given several opportunities to betray the Church and accept Islam, but they all steadfastly refused to renounce their faith and praise Muhammad.

THEY WERE BRUTALLY MURDERED

After marching for two hours, they were given one last chance to choose between apostasy or death. When they still refused, they were brutally murdered with bayonets. The bodies were then burned by the soldiers.

The eight martyrs were beatified on October 3, 1982 by Pope John Paul II in St Peter's Basilica in Rome. Their memorial day is the day of death November 22.

SALVATORE LILLI'S SEVEN ARMENIAN COMPANIONS:

Blessed Baldji Oghlou Ohannes

Blessed Khodianin Oghlou Kadir

Blessed Kouradji Oghlou Tzeroum

Blessed Dimbalac Oghlou Wartavar

Blessed Jeremiah Oghlou Boghos

Blessed David Oghlou David

Blessed Toros Oghlou David (brother of David)

Blessed Salvatore and blessed Companions, please pray for us.

Information from the Vatican Website -

https://www.vatican.va/siti_va/index_va_en.htm

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Blessed Salvatore and Companions may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

ST LAURA OF CORDOBA, WIDOW AND MARTYR - 19 OCTOBER

WELCOME! SAINT LAURA OF CORDOBA, WIDOW AND MARTYR Laura, a widow and martyr of Cordoba in Spain, is mentioned in the Spanish martyrology of Tamajode Salazar, who refers to Luitprand, where it says the following: St Laura is said to have been of a noble family, and according to the wishes of her parents she married an equally noble man and gave birth to two daughters. After the death of her husband and her daughters, she went to the monastery of St Aurea, named St-Maria de Cuteclara, and after her martyrdom led the same for nine years as her successor. After she had made wonderful progress in all virtues, she was finally summoned to renounce the faith before a Saracen judge. But since she remained steadfast, she was first beaten very cruelly and then thrown into a bath of boiling pitch, where she remained in praise of God for three hours and then flew to heaven on October 19, 864. St Laura is of the 48 Martyrs of Cordoba. PRAYER: Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that we who

SAINT FEAST DAY FOR EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR

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