August 29
Flaviano Miguel Melki, bishop and martyr (+1915)
martyr bishop
Syrian Catholic bishop, Flavian Miguel Melki, was murdered during the persecutions against Christians in the Ottoman Empire for refusing to abandon their faithful.
Biography
Born in 1858 into a Syrian Orthodox family, he studied the tradition of the Eastern Fathers and embraced full communion with the Catholic Church. He was a priest, missionary and later bishop of Gazarta. He lived in great poverty and dedicated his assets to helping those in need. In 1915 he rejected warnings to flee, was arrested along with the Chaldean bishop Felipe Jacobo Abraham and refused to convert to Islam. Both were tortured and executed.
Practical advice
Remain close today to a person who is experiencing danger or abandonment, without protecting your comfort at the expense of leaving them alone.