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Leonard Melki
Leonard Melki (4 October 1881 – 11 June 1915) – born Yūsuf Habīb Melkī and in religion Līūnār of B'abdāt – was a Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. His name is often Romanized in various texts. Melki became a priest before serving as a preacher and teacher in different stations of the Mission of Armenia and Mesopotamia of the Capuchin Order. He eventually became the principal of the school of the Capuchin Order in Mardin where he taught the French language and music. He was later arrested and marched to the Sheikhan Caves in the deserts outside Mardin. On June 11, 1915, as part of a deportation convoy of Armenian and Assyrian Christians; including Catholics, Miaphysite Orthodox, and Protestants, they were massacred at the Sheikhan Caves by a combined force of the Ottoman Army and Ottoman Gendarmerie, during the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides ordered by Ottoman Interior Minister Talat Pasha.
Melki's cause for sainthood opened on 3 October 2005 – he was titled as a Servant of God. Pope Francis approved his beatification in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic halted the beatification plans; he was beatified on 4 June 2022.
Yūsuf Habīb Melkī was born on October 4, 1881, as the seventh of eleven children to Habīb Awaiss Melkī (1840–1906) and Noura Bou Moussi Kanaan Yammine (1845–1917). His siblings were: Daoud (b. 1870), Oueiss (b. 1873), Mariam (b. 1873), Kalim (1875–77), Kalimé (1875–1955), Mansoura (b. 1878), Youssfié (b. 1881), Khalil (1883–1959), Zayné (1890–1903) and Farés (1893–1967).
Yūsuf was baptized in the local Maronite parish church of Notre Dame on October 8, 1881, by the parish priest, Father Hanna Labaki, and his godfather was Assaad Raji Labaki. He attended the Notre Dame church near his home with his siblings. His father, who was known for his talented voice, aided the priest during Mass by singing hymns. Léonard and his brother Khalil both received their Confirmation at the same time on November 19, 1893, in the Latin Church and not in the Maronite Catholic Church. This is because some of the local villagers, including Léonard's family, left the Maronite Catholic Church and joined the Latin Catholic Church due to political, social, and economic reasons. At the time, the celebration of the First Communion was not yet instituted in the Latin Catholic Church.
Léonard received his early education, like all Christian Lebanese children at the time, under an oak tree in his home town of Baabdat. His school teacher was the Maronite priest Geries Yacoub Abi Hayla. Once some families in Baabdat joined the Latin Catholic Church, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith asked the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin to serve this newly established Latin parish. As a result of the Capuchin presence in Baabdat, Léonard became interested in joining their Order and consequently continued his education under them where he was sent to the San Stefano seminary near Istanbul in April, 1895.
He began his novitiate in 1899 and received the habit on July 1, 1899; he received his new religious name about a week later in honor of Saint Leonard of Port Maurice. He made his initial profession at Santo Stefano on July 2, 1900. Then he went to the major seminary in Budja where he received both the tonsure and the minor orders on February 10, 1901, before being made a deacon on July 24, 1904. Melkī was ordained to the priesthood on December 4, 1904.
Melkī passed a preaching exam on April 23, 1906, and was given the certificate of Apostolic Preacher the following month. He was destined to be sent on missions in the Ottoman Empire and began his mission in Mardin where he served as a teacher and preacher. He promoted the Third Order of Saint Francis in his apostolate and spread its evangelical and active apostolate in the places he worked in and encouraged others to receive it with an open mind – this sparked an increase in admittance numbers.
During 1910, he could not quite celebrate Mass too well due to his poor health which also brought bouts of headaches. He was sent to the Capuchin station in Mezere to rest since the climate there is better. Despite following his doctor's orders to rest, he did not get any better and requested time off to recuperate. He was allowed to go to Lebanon where he spent some months in 1911. He returned to the Capuchin station in Urfa on Christmas 1911 and stayed there until 1914 when he returned to Mardin.
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Leonard Melki
Leonard Melki (4 October 1881 – 11 June 1915) – born Yūsuf Habīb Melkī and in religion Līūnār of B'abdāt – was a Roman Catholic priest and a professed member of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin. His name is often Romanized in various texts. Melki became a priest before serving as a preacher and teacher in different stations of the Mission of Armenia and Mesopotamia of the Capuchin Order. He eventually became the principal of the school of the Capuchin Order in Mardin where he taught the French language and music. He was later arrested and marched to the Sheikhan Caves in the deserts outside Mardin. On June 11, 1915, as part of a deportation convoy of Armenian and Assyrian Christians; including Catholics, Miaphysite Orthodox, and Protestants, they were massacred at the Sheikhan Caves by a combined force of the Ottoman Army and Ottoman Gendarmerie, during the Armenian and Assyrian Genocides ordered by Ottoman Interior Minister Talat Pasha.
Melki's cause for sainthood opened on 3 October 2005 – he was titled as a Servant of God. Pope Francis approved his beatification in 2020 but the COVID-19 pandemic halted the beatification plans; he was beatified on 4 June 2022.
Yūsuf Habīb Melkī was born on October 4, 1881, as the seventh of eleven children to Habīb Awaiss Melkī (1840–1906) and Noura Bou Moussi Kanaan Yammine (1845–1917). His siblings were: Daoud (b. 1870), Oueiss (b. 1873), Mariam (b. 1873), Kalim (1875–77), Kalimé (1875–1955), Mansoura (b. 1878), Youssfié (b. 1881), Khalil (1883–1959), Zayné (1890–1903) and Farés (1893–1967).
Yūsuf was baptized in the local Maronite parish church of Notre Dame on October 8, 1881, by the parish priest, Father Hanna Labaki, and his godfather was Assaad Raji Labaki. He attended the Notre Dame church near his home with his siblings. His father, who was known for his talented voice, aided the priest during Mass by singing hymns. Léonard and his brother Khalil both received their Confirmation at the same time on November 19, 1893, in the Latin Church and not in the Maronite Catholic Church. This is because some of the local villagers, including Léonard's family, left the Maronite Catholic Church and joined the Latin Catholic Church due to political, social, and economic reasons. At the time, the celebration of the First Communion was not yet instituted in the Latin Catholic Church.
Léonard received his early education, like all Christian Lebanese children at the time, under an oak tree in his home town of Baabdat. His school teacher was the Maronite priest Geries Yacoub Abi Hayla. Once some families in Baabdat joined the Latin Catholic Church, the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith asked the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin to serve this newly established Latin parish. As a result of the Capuchin presence in Baabdat, Léonard became interested in joining their Order and consequently continued his education under them where he was sent to the San Stefano seminary near Istanbul in April, 1895.
He began his novitiate in 1899 and received the habit on July 1, 1899; he received his new religious name about a week later in honor of Saint Leonard of Port Maurice. He made his initial profession at Santo Stefano on July 2, 1900. Then he went to the major seminary in Budja where he received both the tonsure and the minor orders on February 10, 1901, before being made a deacon on July 24, 1904. Melkī was ordained to the priesthood on December 4, 1904.
Melkī passed a preaching exam on April 23, 1906, and was given the certificate of Apostolic Preacher the following month. He was destined to be sent on missions in the Ottoman Empire and began his mission in Mardin where he served as a teacher and preacher. He promoted the Third Order of Saint Francis in his apostolate and spread its evangelical and active apostolate in the places he worked in and encouraged others to receive it with an open mind – this sparked an increase in admittance numbers.
During 1910, he could not quite celebrate Mass too well due to his poor health which also brought bouts of headaches. He was sent to the Capuchin station in Mezere to rest since the climate there is better. Despite following his doctor's orders to rest, he did not get any better and requested time off to recuperate. He was allowed to go to Lebanon where he spent some months in 1911. He returned to the Capuchin station in Urfa on Christmas 1911 and stayed there until 1914 when he returned to Mardin.