Inspirational Martyrs of Christ

[Lorenzo]

Let's read some of the beautiful messages of the Martyrs who died for Christ.

Let their words and their lives inspire us...

[Lorenzo]

"I am come here to die, being a Catholic, a priest, and a religious man, belonging to the Order of St. Benedict; it was by this same order that England was converted."

~ Mark Barkworth, convert, priest, martyr, Venerable; in comments to the crowd just before he was drawn and quartered at Tyburn on the first Tuesday of Lent, 1601.

[Lorenzo]

"Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are."

- Peter the Apostle, martyred in Rome, 65 AD (1 Peter 3:14, 15 The Message)

[Lorenzo]

"I tell you this so you won't be ashamed by my death. If you love me, you will rejoice that God has called me to this honor, which is greater than any earthly honor I could ever attain. Who wouldn't be happy to die for this cause? I trust in my Lord God, who put His mind, will and affection in my heart, and choose to lose all my worldly substance, and my life, too, rather than deny His known truth. He will comfort me, aid me, and strengthen me forever, even to the yielding of my spirit and soul into His hands."

- Bishop Nicholas Ridley, burned at the stake, Oxford, England, 1555.

[Lorenzo]

"My dear Jesus, my Savior, is so deeply written in my heart, that I feel confident, that if my heart were to be cut open and chopped to pieces, the name of Jesus would be found written on every piece."

-Ignatius, a student under John, devoured by wild animals in Rome, 111 AD.

[Lorenzo]

"The church has an unconditional obligation to the victims of any ordering of society. There are things for which an uncompromising stand is worthwhile."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer, hung in Germany for resisting the Nazis, 1945.

[Lorenzo]

"Angels are transparent. If an angel stands before you with a man behind him, the presence of the angel does not keep you from seeing the man. On the contrary, Looking at a man through an angel makes him more beautiful. I see my torturers through an angel. In that way, even they become lovable."

- Ivan "Vanya" Moiseyev, martyred in the U.S.S.R., 1972.

[Lorenzo]

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose."

- Jim Elliot, speared by headhunters in Ecuador while serving there as a missionary, 1956.

[Lorenzo]

Let us again examine the bravery of St. Ignatius of Antioch by reading his letters:

    The believing have, in love, the character of God the Father by Jesus Christ, by whom, if we are not in readiness to die into his suffering, his life is not in us. (Letter to the Magnesians 5)

    May I enjoy the wild beasts that are prepared for me. I pray that they would be found eager to rush at me, and I will also entice them to devour me speedily and not deal with me as some, whom out of fear they have not touched. If they are unwilling to assail me, I will compel them to do so. Pardon me; I know what is to my benefit. Now I begin to be a disciple. Let no one, of things visible or invisible, prevent me from attaining to Jesus Christ. Let fire and the cross; let wild beasts; let tearings, breakings, and dislocation of bones; let cutting off of limbs; let shatterings of the whole body; and let all the evil torments of the devil come upon me; only let me attain to Jesus Christ. (Letter to the Romans 5)