July 10 Damascus Martyrs and St. Veronica Giuliani

July 10 After honoring Franciscan Martyrs on July 9th, it continues on July 10th. But we also have a Poor Clare who bore the stigmata! Since these three days of July are filled with saints, the Franciscans try to honor them on separate days, although the Roman Martyrology lists St. Veronica on the date of her death July 9th. 

Franciscan Martyrs of Damascus, Syria  died 1860

The Martyrs of Damascus were eleven Catholic saints martyred while praying inside a Franciscan-run parish in Damascus. They consist of the Massabki Brothers: Abdel Moati Massabki, Francis Massabki, and Raphael Massabki who were Maronite Catholics. Manuel Ruiz Lopez and Companions are Franciscans: seven from Spain including Carmelo Bolta Bañuls, Nicanor Ascanio Soria, Nicolás María Alberca Torres, Pedro Nolasco Soler Méndez,  Francisco Pinazo Peñalver, and Juan Jacob Fernández, with Engelbert Kolland from Austria.

Their martyrdom took place in the night between the ninth and tenth of July 1860, and they were beatified in 1926. All eleven were canonized on October 20, 2024.

St. Veronica Giuliani, 2^nd Order (1660-1727)

July 10

            Veronica’s desire to be like Christ crucified was answered with the stigmata. There are many saintly women who follow in the footsteps of Saint Clare.  This example was diligent in her monastic responsibilities while holding a mystical relationship with Jesus in her heart and soul.  She was born in Mercatelli. It is said that as her mother Bernedetta was dying, she called her five daughters to her bedside and entrusted each of them to one of the five wounds of Jesus. Veronica was entrusted to the wound below or through Christ’s Most Sacred Heart.

            At the age of 17, Veronica joined the Poor Clares directed by the Capuchins. Her father had wanted her to marry, but she convinced him to allow her to become a nun. In her first years in the monastery, she worked in the kitchen, infirmary, sacristy, and served as portress. At the age of 34, she was made novice mistress, a position she held for 22 years. When she was 37, Veronica received the stigmata. Life was not the same after that.

            Rome wanted to test Veronica’s authenticity and so conducted an investigation. She lost the office of novice mistress temporarily and was not allowed to attend Mass except on Sundays or holydays. Through all of this Veronica did not become bitter, and the investigation eventually restored her as novice mistress.

            Though she protested against it, at the age of 56 she was elected abbess, a task she held for eleven years until her death. Veronica was very devoted to the Eucharist and to the Sacred Heart. She offered her sufferings for the missions. Veronica was canonized in 1839.

            Why did God grant the stigmata to Francis and to Veronica? God alone knows the deepest reasons, but as Thomas Celano points out, the external sign of the cross is a confirmation of the fact of the saints’ commitment to the cross in their lives. He says of St. Francis, “All the pleasures of the world were a cross to him, because he carried the cross of Christ rooted in his heart. And therefore the stigmata shone forth exteriorly in his flesh, because interiorly that deeply set root was sprouting forth in his mind.” (2 Celano, #211) The stigmata which appeared in Veronica’s flesh had taken root in her heart many years before. It was a fitting conclusion for her love of God and her charity towards her sisters.