According to news accounts filtering out of a besieged Christian village in Syria, a Christian man who was given the choice to convert to Islam or die chose the path of his Master and was slaughtered for the faith.

Fides is reporting that Syrian Christians in Maalula, a Christian village north of Damascus, have been enduring attacks in recent days by armed Islamist groups. Thanks to one eyewitness, a Christian woman known only as "A", we are learning of the heroic faith of these Christians who are more than willing to die for Christ.

"A" told Fides that the homes in her village were being raided by armed Islamist bands who were terrorizing the occupants and stripping all sacred images from the walls. The home of three of her relatives, Greek Catholic men named Mikhael Taalab, his cousin Antoun Taalab, and Sarkis el Zakhm, Mikhael’s grandson, was raided on September 7. The Islamists warned everyone present in the house to convert to Islam.

Sarkis responded by saying very firmly and clearly: "I am a Christian and if you want to kill me because I am a Christian, do it". With that, all three men were killed in cold blood. "A" was injured in the attack and was "saved by a miracle," Fides reports, but is currently hospitalized in Damascus.

The funeral for the three men was celebrated on September 10 in Damascus, in the Greek-Catholic cathedral. Melkite Patriarch Gregory III Laham presided over the celebration in the presence of bishops of other confessions.

Sister Carmel, a nun who attended the celebration, said Sarkis' death was "true martyrdom . . . a death in odium fidei [hatred of the faith]."

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