Biography
Abdel Moati Massabki
About Abdel Moati Massabki
Abdel Moati Massabki was a Maronite teacher in Damascus. He lived with his wife and five children in his older brother Francis’s household. He taught boys and prayed at the Franciscan convent of Saint Paul. Although closely connected with the friars, he was a layman.
The Maronite patriarch’s account preserves more personal memories of his work and family. It names his children as Nehme, Yusuf, Mariam, Wardi and Hannah. According to that account, he taught at the Franciscan school for many years. When teaching became difficult in his later years, Francis helped him open a shop. The same account describes his generosity to customers: he charged modest prices and gave generous quantities. The business eventually closed. These details come from the Church’s received family narrative, rather than a surviving diary written by Abdel Moati.
His son Nehme remembered the time he spent praying in church, attending Mass and kneeling in devotion. The patriarchal letter also cites the recollections of a pupil, George Bitar, concerning his prayer. These memories connect his religious life with the school and home in which he was known. The letter records that his youngest daughter, Hannah, later joined the Sisters of Charity.
In 1860, violence against Christians spread through Lebanon and Syria. Abdel Moati and his brothers Francis and Raphael took refuge with other Christians in the Franciscan convent at Damascus. Fr Yuhanna Azize’s account describes their prayer there and their reception of confession and the Eucharist. The convent offered shelter, but armed attackers entered during the night. In the received account, Abdel Moati was seized near the chapel door and ordered to abandon his Christian faith. He refused and was killed, as were his brothers. The remembered final confession is part of their martyrdom tradition; it is not presented here as a verbatim transcript.
The Church’s cause record places the killings in the night between 9 and 10 July 1860. The group remembered as the Martyrs of Damascus comprises the three Maronite brothers and eight Franciscan friars. Abdel Moati’s place among them preserves the distinction between a married teacher’s vocation and the friars’ religious lives. All eleven were beatified by Pope Pius XI on 10 October 1926.
Pope Francis canonized the group on 20 October 2024. Bishop Antoine Charbel Tarabay, who participated in the ceremony, identified the brothers as the first Maronite laymen to be canonized in the Catholic Church. His account describes the canonization icon showing the eleven martyrs together around the Eucharist. Abdel Moati carries a palm branch, the artistic sign of martyrdom. The image expresses his place in the Church’s remembrance rather than providing an authenticated likeness. His recognition gives particular visibility to the life of a married lay teacher within the Maronite tradition.
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