He was born on 19 June 1853 in
Cappadocia, Abruzzo,
Italy to Vincenzo and Annunziata Lilli. He joined Franciscan in
1870 and make his final vows on 6 August
1871.
Religious life
He was ordained on 6 April 1878 in
Bethlehem. He served as a missionary in
Armenia. He also built schools, clinics and homes for abandoned. He taught modern hygiene and sanitation in villages. He worked with the sick during a cholera epidemic in 1891.[7]
Persecution and death
He was serving as a
parish priest and superior of the Franciscan House at Mujukderesi,
Turkey, at the time of death. He was arrested by Turks along with his seven companions and forced to embrace
Islam, to which Lille and his companions refused and hence they were killed and their bodies desecrated and burned.
Beatification
Theologians approved Lilli's spiritual writings on 19 May 1939, and he and his companions were later declared
Servants of God.[8]
On 3 October 1982,
Pope John Paul II beatified Salvatore Lilli and his companions.[9][10] The feast day is celebrated on 19 November.[11][12][13]
Bibliography
Aghassi (pseud. Garabed Toursarkisian), L'assassinat du Père Salvatore par le soldats turcs. Témoignage d'Aghassi, l'un des quatre chefs de l'insurrection du Zéïtoun, trad. Archag Tchobanian, pref. Pierre Quillard, Parigi, Mercure de France, 1897.
Aghassi, Zeïtoun, depuis les origines jusqu'à l'insurrection de 1895..., Traduction d'Archag Tchobanian. Préface par Victor Bérard, 1897
Gian Crisostomo Guzzo, Vita e martirio dei servi di Dio p. Salvatore Lilli e compagni: martirizzati in Armenia nel 1895,
Venezia, Tipografia S. Marco, 1942.
Salvatore Lilli (nipote del martire), Vita del padre Salvatore Lilli da Cappadocia della provincia romana di S. Michele Arcangelo martirizzato nell'Armenia Minore il 22 novembre 1895, Gerusalemme, Tipografia dei PP. Francescani, 1949.
AA.VV.Salvatore Lilli e sette cristiani armeni martiri per la fede di Cristo, supplemento di "La terra santa: pubblicazione mensile della Custodia francescana", 1982.