Martyrs

"In the blood of the martyrs lies the seed of the Church."
Tertullian

Until last year I had no appreciation whatsoever for the astonishing number of Christians throughout history who have been put to death just because they were Christians.

The word martyr comes from the Greek word μαρτυρος, which means "witness," and every day Orthodox Christians remember the faithful witness of those who have suffered and died for Christ. Today, the Church commemorates seven-thousand fourth-century Persian Christians who were executed on a single day for their Faith. Tomorrow, they will remember several other Persian martyrs. The day after that more martyrs will be remembered.

The very first martyr of the Christian era was St Stephen, who was a deacon of the Church of Jerusalem. His death by stoning (c. 35) was recorded in Acts chapter 7. Before the end of the first century, all but one of the Twelve Apostles were martyred. Sts Philip, James the son of Alphaeus, Andrew, Peter, Jude, and Simon the Zealot were all crucified. St Matthew was burned, St Thomas was impaled, St James the son of Zebedee was beheaded. St Matthias was stoned and then beheaded. St Bartholomew, was beaten, skinned alive, crucified, and finally beheaded. (Of the Twelve, only John the Evangelist escaped execution, although, one time he was cooked in a vat of boiling oil).

Of the Seventy Apostles chosen by Christ in Luke chapter 10, at least thirty-nine died a martyr's death, including:
St Paul's traveling companion Barnabas;
Clement, the Pope of Rome,
Linus, also a bishop of Rome,
Euodias, the Bishop of Antioch,
James, the brother of Christ and bishop of Jerusalem,
Luke the Evangelist,
Mark the Evangelist,
Onesimus, St Andrew's successor as bishop of Constantinople,
Philemon, the bishop of Gaza,
Timothy, the bishop of Ephesus, and
Stephen's fellow deacons, Nicanor, Parmenas, Prochorus, and Timon.

Other Christians martyrs of note are:
St Paul, who was beheaded, St Ignatius, Euodius's successor as bishop of Antioch, who was eaten by lions in a Roman arena, and St Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, who was burned at the stake and stabbed.

St Laurence, was grilled over a fire.
St Eustace, along with his wife and children, was roasted in a brazen bull.
The Forty Martyrs of Sebaste, were Roman soldiers who, after professing their faith, were stripped naked and forced to spend the night on a frozen lake.
Sts Perpetua and Felicitas, were scourged, mauled by wild beasts, and finally beheaded in a Carthaginian amphitheatre.
St Alban, the first Christian martyr of Britain, was beheaded.
More recent Christian martyrs include the Chinese Christians who died during the Boxer Rebellion; between fifty and seventy million Russian Christians who suffered and died under Bolshevism; and, of course, thousands of Iraqi Christians who have recently died for their faith.

Remembering those who suffered and died for the Faith forces me to assess the state of my own faith and the depth of my commitment to Christ: would I stay faithful if confronted with the threat of being burned alive or beheaded? The martyrs remind me daily that such unflinching faith is possible.