At eleven o'clock in the morning of Sunday, August 25, 2024, His Beatitude Mor Ignatius Youssef III YOUNAN, Patriarch of the Syriac Catholic Church of Antioch, celebrated the Divine Liturgy commemorating the Martyrdom of Archbishop Mor Flavianos Michael MELKI, which falls on the twenty-ninth of August every year, on the altar of the Church of St. Ignatius of Antioch, in the Patriarchal See, Museum, Beirut.

    His Beatitude was assisted by His Excellency Mor Gregorios Boutros MELKI, the former Patriarchal Vicar in Jerusalem, the Holy Land and Jordan who is from the family of the Blessed Martyr, and Monsignor Habib MRAD, the Patriarchal Secretary and the Patriarchal Oeconomus, with the participation of the faithful, mostly from the “Holy Family Mission” ministering to Displaced Iraqis in Lebanon, and some relatives of the Blessed Martyr. The Choir of the “Holy Family Mission” served the Mass.

    In his homely entitled “He who endures to the end, will be saved”, His Beatitude the Patriarch spoke about the Blessed Martyr Archbishop Mar Flavianos Michael MELKI, whose feast day falls on the twenty-ninth of August, the day of his martyrdom in 1915. He was the Archbishop of Jazirat Ibn Omar, a city called Gizre, located today in the far Southeast of Turkey, on the Tigris River, close to the borders of Iraq and Syria.

    His Beatitude noted that the history of our Syriac Church is also our own story, “your story of martyrdom, my beloved”. A story of enduring trials and sacrifices, that we still experience and live. You are living it today, whether in Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. We know how and how much Christians have being enduring throughout the centuries, in their ancestral lands in the Middle-East, whether ancient or modern. The Blessed Martyr, whose beatification we were able to celebrate in August 29, 2015, after we personally asked His Holiness Pope Francis to expedite the announcement of his beatification so that we could celebrate it on the tragic centennial anniversary of the genocide against our people, called “Sayfo” in Syriac.

    Christians indeed were killed, persecuted and uprooted from their lands, one hundred years ago, and as of today, a hundred and nine years. His Beatitude pointed out that His Holiness Pope Francis understood our request and urged the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to expedite the beatification case. And thus, we were able to hold the beatification ceremony on August 29, 2015 at the Patriarchal Monastery of Our Lady of Deliverance - Charfeh and this date is hold as his feast day every year. The martyred blessed was a student at the same Monastery, and the late Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II RAHMANI did ordain him January 1913 as a bishop, at the Cathedral of Saint George here in Beirut, along with Gabriel TAPPOUNI, who will be the Patriarch Cardinal Mar Ignatius Gabriel TAPPOUNI.

    His Beatitude recalled that Mor Flavianos Michael was a figure of all Christians who were tried, persecuted, killed or expelled during those terrifying and criminal years and a shining example of Christ disciples. He was not alone, but many martyrs, both male and female had shed their blood for the Lord Jesus. Indeed, when our predecessors, the Patriarchs who began the cause of beatification for the martyred Archbishop, their intention was also to remember all those who were persecuted and put to death, whether adults or children, fathers, mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers, and many thousands of our families and relatives who shed their blood for the Lord Jesus. We remember them all and consider them and affirm that they are true martyrs who now enjoy the crown of glory with Jesus our Redeemer.

    His Beatitude stressed that the Lord Jesus taught us, in the Holy Gospel that we just heard: “He who endures to the end will be saved”. We should not be those people who cry over ruins and remember the past, but we must always look to the future and give the Hope that the Lord instills in us to the young generations: our children and youth. No matter what the circumstances of life are, and no matter how long the years of waiting, suffering and trials would persist, we will remain the people of Hope, and we will live this Hope against all hopes! It is so sad to have many separated families because of the harsh conditions of migration. Let us remember Jesus did promise to remain with us, but not to walk through rosy path. The door opening to the kingdom is narrow! “If they did persecute me, Jesus said, they will also persecute you!”. We, therefore, must keep praying for strength and endurance, so that we may continue our journey on earth, faithful to Jesus and proud of Him, loving one another. Let us not forget that by loving each other, the first Christians were known to be disciples of the Lord Jesus, because of their mutual love, to each other.

    We also have to know how harmful Social Media is today, especially to the young and the youth, and even to the adults as well, leading to such egoism and isolation.

    His Beatitude concluded by supplicating the Lord Jesus, the firstborn of martyrs, to strengthen us, through the protection of Mary, His Blessed Mother and our Mother, Queen of Martyrs, and the intercession of Mor Flavianos Michael, the Blessed Archbishop Martyr, so that we all, sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father, may persevere with patience through all kinds of trials.

    At the end of the Mass, His Beatitude blessed the congregation with the image of the Martyr Mar Flavianos Michael and welcomed the faithful in the patriarchal hall.