Saturday, June 30, 2012

Early Christian Martyrs

Early Christian martyrs waiting their death at the Colosseo
The day after the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the Church commemorates the many unknown, possibly in thousands of Christian martyrs who shed their blood for their faith under ruthless Emperors. What is known as the Persecution era, so many martyrs died defending their faith, either through crucifixion, being burned, being eaten by lions or other excruciating methods of torture.

Early Christians being taken away from their families
Many of them were arrested just by being seen carrying a cross in their hands. Most of them congregated underground in catacombs, for fear of being arrested and killed. Some of the known martyrs have been canonized by the church, St Agnes, St Agatha, St Cecilia, St Ignatius of Antioch, most of the early Popes, and so many others. It was only thanks to King Constantine who ended the Persecutions in 313 AD, that Christians could once again profess their faith freely and build basilicas and churches to worship in.

1 comment:

  1. But the Catholic Church Killed more than 100,000,000 true Christians during the dark ages. But it seems that time has had most to forget the evil that was brought upon a true believer of Jesus and His Word. The popes of the dark ages refused to let the common people to have the Word of God during this time. Praise God for the Wesley's in the world...

    ReplyDelete