Martyr, Martyrdom, Persecutions

The Last Prayer of the Christian MarTyres - Jean-Léon Gérôme

The word marTyree denotes a violent death inflicted because of faith.

The word marTyre describes the person to whom this is inflicted.

In Greek, the word marTyre means "witness" of God, especially unto the blood.

The Early Days of the Church

MarTyres appeared from the very earliest days of the Church. The first among them was Stephen the deacon, shortly after the Ascension of the Lord.

About ten years later, James of Zebedee the Apostle, called the Greater, was the first of the Apostles to suffer death, between 41-44, during the persecutions initiated by Herod Agrippa I. This king, who was the brother of Herodias and companion of Caligula, the mad emperor, died eaten by worms.

James of Alphaeus the Apostle, called the Lesser, first bishop of Jerusalem, was stoned in 62 on the order of Ananias II, the acting high priest, along with several of his companions. According to Flavius Josephus, he was thrown from the top of the Temple terrace into the Kidron Valley where a fuller finished him off with a club.

This last marTyree in Judea preceded shortly the ones who would begin in Rome and continue through ten major persecutions.

1. Nero, in 66-68,
2. Domitian, in 93,
3. Trajan, in 107,
4. Marcus Aurelius, in 164,
5. Septimius Severus, in 199-204,
6. Maximin, in 235,
7. Decius, in 250,
8. Valerian, in 257-258,
9. Aurelian, in 273-275,
10. Diocletian and Maximian, in 303-311.

The persecutions under Diocletian and Maximian, in 303, were the longest and most violent of all. It was called the era of the MarTyres. Diocletian, urged on by Galerius, his son-in-law, published four edicts during his reign:

• by the first, he ordered the demolition of churches, the burning of holy books, and deprived Christians of their civil rights;
• by the second, he decreed the imprisonment of the leaders of the Church;
• by the third, he ordered tortures Against the priests who refused to sacrifice to the idols;
• by the fourth, he extended to all Christians the obligation to sacrifice.

However, at the end of these bloody persecutions, on April 30, 311, Galerius issued the Edict of Serdica, granting Christians the right to freely practice their Religion.

A certain so-called historical criticism has denied the scale, or even the reality, of these persecutions on the main ground that Christians, being a minority, posed only insignificant problems. This argument does not hold, for several reasons:

1. Christianity very early penetrated the emperor’s entourage: Claudia Procula, the illegitimate granddaughter of Emperor Augustus, intervened with Pontius Pilate in fConfessionr of Jesus, during his trial.
   Flavia Domitilla (Saint Domitilla), died after 95, from the imperial Family, was exiled because of her faith.
2. Even if the percentage of Christians was only 10% to 15%, that still represented at the time from eight to fifteen million people. The testimony of the Fathers of the Church, such as the marTyrologist, attests that Christianity was established at all social levels and sometimes in key positions, explaining its eradication by pagan hostility.
3. History shows that persecutions target minority populations. This was the case with the Protestant minority during the eight Wars of Religion that devastated France in the 16th century. It was also the case during the Shoah, which tried to exterminate the Jewish population of Europe. It counted about 9.5 million people in 1933 and yet represented only 1.7% of the total European population.

“The blood of the marTyres is the seed of the Church,” said Tertullian (155-255). It has never ceased to flow since, in various forms.

Ways of MarTyree

MarTyree by blood is not the only way to live it. Victim Souls, who offer themselves as “holocaust”, live it similarly.

The Act of "offering as Holocaust Victim to Love Merciful Good God” by Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus explicitly mentions it:

In order to live in an act of perfect Love, I offer myself as a holocaust victim to your merciful Love, begging you to consume me continuously, letting the infinite tenderness contained in you overflow in my Soul so that I may become MarTyree of your Love, oh my God!… May this marTyree, after preparing me to appear before you, finally cause me to die and may my Soul soar without delay into the eternal embrace of Your Merciful Love…

It is known that the sufferings endured are not symbolic. This type of marTyree was numerous in the 20th century. This was the case, among many others, of Maria Valtorta.

MarTyres and Victim Souls confront Evil following and imitating Jesus, in a bloody or discrete, spectacular or invisible way. Their respective paths differ only in a few points: the marTyree unto blood is given from outside, by hatred of Christ. The Victim Soul voluntarily immolates itself from within.

But all face, in varying durations and intensity, physical and moral suffering, just as Jesus fully did.

Marie des vallées (1590-1656) had a prophetic vision of these Victim Souls. She called them the marTyres of divine Love:

They will be great marTyres although the torturers will not touch them, but they will be marTyres of divine Love. “It will be divine Love that will martyriZe them. They will be burned in the furnace of Love” and they will be greater marTyres than many others among the first marTyres who suffered marTyree for the hope of crowns and glory, but these do not look at the reward but only to the glory of God.

The Christ gave his life in sacrifice for the salvation of the world and these Disciples understand more broadly the necessity of this gift: “those who do not understand that they must give their life and death, after me, for the salvation of the World, are not worthy of me,” said Jesus. MarTyres unto blood as well as Victim Souls indeed take up their cross following Christ each in his own way. Holiness is not reserved for an elite. It is within everyone’s reach, “According to the measure of the gift of Christ.” But not all believers are called to live these Trials chosen by these exceptional Souls. The daily Cross, which is everyone’s lot, finds many applications in the love of God and of Neighbor that underpin holiness:

You shall love the Lord your God with all your Heart, with all your Soul and with all your spirit. This is the great, the first commandment, replies Jesus to a scribe who questioned him. And the second is like it: You shall love your Neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.

MarTyres are Intimately Linked to the History of the Church

MarTyree by blood accompanies the evangelization of all continents: Africa, Americas, Asia, Oceania. It affects Missionaries, as well as the faithful and also religious sisters and brothers from indigenous populations.

The 20th century was a century of resurgence of persecutions following the Apostasy of peoples that so well illustrates the vision of Leo XIII opening the purifying trial of the “Century of Satan”.

In the heart of a conflict that caused millions of victims the Virgin appeared at Fatima and entrusted a prophetic message to three young seers The third part was truly known only at the end of the 20th century. Commenting on it at the request of John Paul II, Cardinal Ratzinger recognized the Trials of the century just ended:

… in the vision, we can recognize the past century (the 20th century) as the century of the marTyres, as the century of sufferings and persecutions of the Church, as the century of the world Wars (first half of the century) and many local Wars, which filled the entire second half and brought new forms of cruelty. […] On this subject, he specifies, it seems appropriate to mention a sentence from a letter Sister Lucia wrote to the Holy Father on May 12, 1982: The third part of the “secret” refers to the words of Our Lady: Otherwise [Russia] will spread its errors throughout the world, favoring Wars and persecutions against the Church. The good will be martyred, the Holy Father will suffer much, various nations will be destroyed.

The 20th century was indeed a century of marTyres comparable to the early days of the Church, said John Paul II:

During the 20th century, perhaps more than in the beginnings of Christianity, very many testified to their faith amidst often heroic sufferings. […] They endured ancient and new forms of persecution, they experienced hatred and exclusion, Violence and murder. Many countries of ancient Christian tradition have returned to lands where it cost to remain faithful to the Gospel.

He stressed on this occasion that:

The witness to Christ unto blood has become a common heritage of Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, and Protestants.

One only needs to recall the persecution of the Boxers in China, the Armenian genocide in the Ottoman empire, long persecutions in the Soviet empire, the War of the Cristeros in Mexico, the massacres in Spain, etc.

Christianity itself was at the origin of persecutions recounted in black pages of its history. However here too, Discernment must intervene to distinguish the guilty reality, which involves us, from the ill-intentioned militant accusation. Among the latter, they tried to make Pius XII an accomplice of antisemitic Nazism, but reality, as suspected, is quite different.

In "The Gospel as Revealed to Me"

MarTyres, the Persecuted

• The Holy Innocents are the first marTyres of Christ. 
• MarTyree does not reside in the form of torment, but in the constancy with which the marTyre endures it.
• Mary also wept for all her sons who, born of Woman, are destined to become Apostles of God and marTyres for the love of God, by loyalty to God or by the ferocity of men.
• But, my John! It is the host that can be imitated by all categories of those who love me: virgin, marTyre, confessor, evangelizer, servant of God and the Mother of God, active and contemplative, it is an example for all.
• By one torment or another, you will all be tested. For now it is the trial of renouncing your comforts, your affections, your interests. Afterwards, it will be an increasingly vast sacrifice, up to the supreme sacrifice that will crown you with an immortal diadem.
• Blessed are those persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
• Because of your human weakness, you could not endure marTyree with resignation. But to the great spirits who must bear witness to the Lord, the Lord infuses a supernatural aid...

MarTyree, Persecutions

• When you are persecuted in one town, flee to another.
• Do you not know, with all your wisdom, that persecuting a Doctrine only serves to increase its power, especially when it matches in fact what is taught?
• Prophecy about the persecutions of the nascent Church during the aGodx in Judea.
• The Disciples begin to be pursued in the spring of the 3rd year.

In Other Works by Maria Valtorta

The Notebooks of 1943

• Catechesis of June 7: For whom do I suffer? Which Soul needs this agony to heal, to hope, to return to you? I will never know it on earth, but I am convinced it exists and that I must drink this bitter cup for expiation. I do so willingly even if my tears streak my cheeks. But let me weep on your Heart, for if it is sweet to love on it, it is sweet to suffer on it. (Maria)
• Catechesis of August 21: The masters and marTyres of faith.

The Notebooks of 1944

• Catechesis of January 13: Like Christ, marTyres showed immeasurable love unto death. Love is the greatest word in the universe. Vision of the marTyree of Saint Agnes.
• Catechesis of February 8: Commentary on Book of Daniel, chapter 3 : the episode of the three young men condemned for refusing to worship the golden statue. It is important to give thanks to the Father.
• Vision of February 29: Visions of the first marTyres in the Mamertine prison. The Apostle Paul blesses Castulus, a small marTyre who teaches that strength is found in the Eucharist. “The soil of the Christian world is becoming pagan again.”
• Vision of March 1: Vision of the marTyree of Felicity and Perpetua.
• Catechesis of March 2: The wisdom of marTyres is the Wisdom of God; all who love the Lord and make this love the goal of their life possess it.
• Vision of March 4: Vision of the marTyree of Saint Phenicules and the death of Petronilla, her friend and mistress, spiritual daughter of the Apostle Peter. This vision highlights the power of prayer, the Fruits of a holy friendship and the value of sacrifice.
• Catechesis of March 5: The figure of marTyres, returned to the original innocence by the work of Grace, as well as their Mission to sanctify the world and to witness to the Gospel by their sacrifice.
• Vision of March 29: The marTyree of Justine and Cyprian.
• Catechesis of June 11: The life of victims must be conducted on an entirely spiritual plane, very elevated and imbued with love. Such Souls resemble the animals of Ezekiel’s theophany and live heroically the Virtues of the saints.
• Vision of July 23: The marTyree of Cecilia
• Vision of August 7: Vision in two parts: one concerns the dialogue between Gamaliel, who disapproves of Violence Against Christians, and Saul, who disagrees with him; the other concerns the accusation made by the Sanhedrin Against Stephen, which culminates in the stoning of the young man, in which Saul takes part fiercely.

The Notebooks from 1945 to 1950

• Vision of January 16, 1945: A mass by Pope Marcel in the Church of the catacombs of the Blessed marTyre Valence, and the Ordination of Valentin as priest.
• Vision of February 11, 1945: Vision of priest Diomedes and other Christians in a prison during the early persecutions.
• Vision of February 20, 1945: Vision of persecutions Against Christians in a circus; an old priest evangelizes and baptizes a group of gladiators with his own blood.
• Vision of April 20, 1945: Vision of the marTyree of Irene in Thessalonica. Anastasia assists her.
• Vision of July 23, 1945: The marTyree of Flora and Mary of Cordoba (9th century).
• Vision of December 4, 1945: Apparition of Saint Martine, virgin and marTyree (3rd century).
• Vision of November 24, 1946: Long and terrifying vision of Christian marTyres. MarTyre of Pope Saint Cletus (Anacletus) during the first major persecution under Domitian.

In Fundamental Christian Texts

MarTyree

• "However, many in Israel remained firm and had the strength not to eat impure things. They accepted to die rather than consume impure foods and profane the holy Covenant, and they died."
• "They were told: ‘Enough! Come out, obey the king’s command and you will be spared.’ - ‘We will not come out,’ they said, ‘and will not obey the order given by the king to violate the Sabbath.’ Immediately assailed, they refrained from retaliating, from throwing stones, from barricading their retreats. ‘Let us all die in our righteousness,’ they said; the heaven and the earth are witnesses that you unjustly put us to death.’ They were attacked on the Sabbath and perished, along with their wives, their children and their cattle, a whole thousand persons.
• Eleazar, one of the first teachers of the Law, an old man of noble appearance, was forced, while they forced his mouth open, to eat pork. But preferring a glorious death rather than a life without soul, he willingly advanced to the torture of the wheel…
• MarTyree of the seven Maccabee brothers.

Persecutions

• "Whenever I have to speak a word, I must call for help and cry out: ‘Violence, repression!’ Because of the word of the Lord, I am the object of insults and mockery all day long."

Persecutions and MarTyrees

• Forces coming from him take position; they will profane the sanctuary fortress, stop the continual sacrifice and set up the abominable desolation. Through intrigue those who profane the holy Covenant will apostatize, but the people of those who know their God will act firmly; the wise among the people will instruct many, but they will fall by the sword, by flame, captivity, and plunder, for days….

Persecutions

• Blessed are you when you are insulted, persecuted, and falsely accused of all kinds of evil for my sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven; in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Victimal gift (Host)

• I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ I complete in my body for the sake of his body, which is the Church.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church

• MarTyree of Saint Thomas More.
• “Throughout his life, Jesus shows himself as our model […] by his poverty, he calls us to freely accept destitution and persecutions.”
• “Saint John the Baptist is the immediate forerunner of the Lord, […] Preceding Jesus ‘with the spirit and power of Elijah’, he bears witness to him by his preaching, his Baptism of conversion and ultimately his marTyree.-
• The flight into Egypt and the massacre of the innocents manifest the opposition of Darkness to the light […] The whole life of Christ will be marked by persecution.

In Other Sources

• Catechesis by Pope Benedict XVI on Tertullian (General audience Wednesday, May 30, 2007).

Person or animal who has been killed by stones. This punishment was used in the East and especially among the Jews. (For example, Jews stoned adulterers, blasphemers).

Action of a person (called an "apostate") who renounces their Religion and faith, who publicly abandons their Religion (to adopt another or not). It thus announces their choice to religious representatives.

First part of the Bible from the book of Genesis until before the coming of Jesus Christ. Parallel

Second part of the Bible, from the coming of Jesus Christ until the Apocalypse.