“There broke out a severe persecution of the Church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the Apostles” (Acts 8:1b).
The stories of the martyrs have always stirred my imagination. I am linked to two of the martyrs of the early Church. I was given the name Lawrence when my parents brought me to the baptismal font. I was born on the Memorial of St. Cecilia, a virgin martyr. I have pictures and statues of both of them and have always found their stories to be inspiring.
Martyrs have always received a special place when their feast or memorial falls within the Easter Season. The Roman Missal prescribes a different set of prayers for them. The obvious reason is that during this season when we remember that Jesus gave his life for us, we also honor all those who have given their lives for the faith which they professed.
In the 13th century the Church established a process for declaring a person a saint or blessed. Before that time the saints were simply proclaimed by the people. Martyrs were all considered saints. Consequently, if you look through the various compendia of saints, you will find that many of the men and women who are regarded as saints lived in the first twelve centuries of the Church’s history. The cities of that time adopted saints as their special patrons. Most often a saint who was a martyr was chosen for this honor.
When the first Eucharistic Prayer is used at Mass, sometimes the presider will include the names of a short catalogue of saints. All of them are martyrs.
When St. Francis learned that some of the friars had been martyred as they preached the Gospel, he rejoiced because the fledgling religious order had gained its first saints.
In recent years we have heard of the martyrdom of Christians in various parts of the world where Christians are in the minority. Recently social media was all a buzz with a rumor that a priest from India had been crucified on Good Friday.
Martyrdom still stirs our hearts and souls. To think that someone is willing to die for the sake of his/her faith prompts us all to wonder whether we would possessed of such resolve. Though I doubt that anyone living in the U.S. has to worry that he or she might be called upon to defend our faith with the shedding of blood, the recent rhetoric calling for the restrictions of certain ethnic groups and people of certain religious faiths highlights for us the essence of the problem. All men and women, regardless of their ethnic background or of their faith, are God’s children. Calls for restrictions simply accentuates the fact that we do not seem to be any more comfortable with human differences than the people of the first century.
Jesus died for all men and women – not just a few.
Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator