If you are to be taken captive, into captivity you go; if you kill with the sword, with the sword you must be killed. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. Revelation 13:10 (NRSV)
Francis, Abdel-Mohti and Raphael Massabki (1860)
Brothers Betrayed
These three brothers were killed in a massacre of Christians in Damascus on 10 July 1860, when Syria, then part of the Ottoman Empire, was under the tyrannical rule of Ahmed Pasha. On the previous day, many of his men had drawn crosses in the streets of Damascus in order to cause unrest among the Muslims and Christians. On 10 July they started a riot, which quickly turned into a bloodbath in front of a church. Many Christians were massacred, their homes destroyed and their goods plundered.
After finding safety for Francis and Abdel-Mohti’s wives and children, the Massabki brothers headed to a nearby convent where they hid with other Christians. But they were betrayed and the rioters burst in. The brothers were killed in the ensuing pandemonium; each refused to renounce their faith at the demand of the attackers.
Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.
Whate’er my God ordains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.
Samuel Rodigast (1649-1708)
Translated by Catherine Winkworth (1827-78)