United States or Guam ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
At no time have I had any hope of safety, and my dearest wish is this: to drink of the martyr’s bounteous and brim-full cup, and die on the field of sacrifice, delighting in that wine which is the most precious of God’s gifts. This is my highest hope, this my most vehement desire. O handmaid of God, who tremblest even as a fresh and tender branch in the winds of the love of God!
That, however, was a date which even Agellius himself, young as he was, would not be likely to reach; indeed, who could expect to escape, who might not hope to gain, a Martyr’s death, in the interval, in the series of assaults, between which Christianity had to run the gauntlet?
Until a being setteth his foot in the plane of sacrifice, he is bereft of every favour and grace; and this plane of sacrifice is the realm of dying to the self, that the radiance of the living God may then shine forth. The martyr’s field is the place of detachment from self, that the anthems of eternity may be upraised.
What are his prospects now? a moment’s agony, a martyr’s death, and the everlasting beatific vision of Him for whom he died. The multitude cry out, “To the ass or to the lion!” worship the ass, or fight the lion. He was dragged to the ass’s head and commanded to kneel down before the irrational beast.
Listen: you are not ready, and such a cross is not for you. What’s more, you don’t need such a martyr’s cross when you are not ready for it. If you had murdered our father, it would grieve me that you should reject your punishment. But you are innocent, and such a cross is too much for you. You wanted to make yourself another man by suffering.
The story is told, for instance, that in the early days of Christianity one such novice, failing to fulfill some command laid upon him by his elder, left his monastery in Syria and went to Egypt. There, after great exploits, he was found worthy at last to suffer torture and a martyr’s death for the faith.
When the Church, regarding him as a saint, was burying him, suddenly, at the deacon’s exhortation, “Depart all ye unbaptized,” the coffin containing the martyr’s body left its place and was cast forth from the church, and this took place three times.
Ever and again they assailed Him with a new torment, and all were certain that from one moment to the next He would suffer a martyr’s death. After some time they banished Him from His native land, and sent Him to countries alien and far away.
Word Of The Day