April 13, 2019

The Martyrs Among Us

On the way to Mass the week before Good Friday, I passed the Roman Colosseum. It’s hard to have things put in better perspective. Christians were once fed to the lions there, and now it’s the background to many a tourist selfie.

On the way to Mass the week before Good Friday, I passed the Roman Colosseum. It’s hard to have things put in better perspective. Christians were once fed to the lions there, and now it’s the background to many a tourist selfie.

Mass that morning was at the Basilica of Santo Stefano Rotondo al Monte Celio, which the top “review” on TripAdvisor that same morning declared as a “Slightly off the beaten track … lovely, quiet church full of horror.” The “horror” no doubt refers to the frescoes of Christian martyrdom that line the ancient circular structure. Does it become less horrific when you see the serene smiles if not outright joy on some of the faces of the martyrs? It depends if you believe the martyr is in for a new beginning or not.

Santo Stefano is a station church for the fifth week of Lent, part of a tradition that dates back to the fourth century. Though, I confess, when you don’t walk the whole path like the millennial seminarians at the Pontifical North American College do, but take a taxi, it’s also a tremendous way to visit some of the churches of Rome, and to do so before the tourists are awake. It’s a way to drink in the breadth and depth of the martyrs, remembering the importance of faith – what that faith may call for, if one truly believes, and is truly tested. If we are really paying attention, it is a reminder that testing takes many forms.

I’m in the Eternal City for friendship, fellowship, prayer and what research and reporting there can be had. While over here, the pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, has had some thoughts published on the origins and solutions for the sex scandals in the Church. It makes a whole lot of sense that he would do so, given his lifetime of service and deep wells of wisdom. It’s subject rife with all kinds of controversy and spin. But the most important line of his comments is this: “Only obedience and love for our Lord Jesus Christ can point the way.” Those seem the most appropriate words to highlight as we are set to mark the holiest season on the Christian calendar yet again.

Benedict wrote: “Martyrdom is a basic category of Christian existence.” So, it would further follow that “the very essence of Christianity is at stake here” if martyrdom is not a part of our lives. And martyrs do, of course, exist in the world today. A priest killed while celebrating Mass in France comes to mind. As do Coptic Christians and Iraqi Christians slaughtered by the so-called Islamic State.

“A world without God,” Benedict writes, “can only be a world without meaning. … Only if things have a spiritual reason, are intended and conceived – only if there is a Creator God who is good and wants the good – can the life of man also have meaning.”

He states the all-important obvious: “Yes, there is sin in the Church, and evil. But even today there is the Holy Church … there are many people who humbly believe, suffer and love, in whom the real God, the loving God, shows Himself to us.” He says that if we “look around and listen with an attentive heart,” we can find witnesses of God everywhere, from the lowest ranks of the society to the highest echelons of the church. Our job is to recognize them, and, more than that, to help them in their struggle to make the world a better, kinder place, to enact God’s will in the world.

As I joined seminarians at the North American Pontifical College and others in the 7 a.m. Masses around Rome for the penultimate week of Lent, I prayed I was among martyrs – people willing to sacrifice with joy for the love of God. They are the antidote to the evil and confusion in the world, which will suffocate us without the gift of clarity that the martyrs demonstrate. They give their lives to God, even when they are not subject to the sword – they seek to be poured out in love to others for love of Him. It doesn’t get more counter-selfie-culture than that.

COPYRIGHT 2019 United Feature Syndicate

Who We Are

The Patriot Post is a highly acclaimed weekday digest of news analysis, policy and opinion written from the heartland — as opposed to the MSM’s ubiquitous Beltway echo chambers — for grassroots leaders nationwide. More

What We Offer

On the Web

We provide solid conservative perspective on the most important issues, including analysis, opinion columns, headline summaries, memes, cartoons and much more.

Via Email

Choose our full-length Digest or our quick-reading Snapshot for a summary of important news. We also offer Cartoons & Memes on Monday and Alexander’s column on Wednesday.

Our Mission

The Patriot Post is steadfast in our mission to extend the endowment of Liberty to the next generation by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities, supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary, and promoting free enterprise, national defense and traditional American values. We are a rock-solid conservative touchstone for the expanding ranks of grassroots Americans Patriots from all walks of life. Our mission and operation budgets are not financed by any political or special interest groups, and to protect our editorial integrity, we accept no advertising. We are sustained solely by you. Please support The Patriot Fund today!


The Patriot Post and Patriot Foundation Trust, in keeping with our Military Mission of Service to our uniformed service members and veterans, are proud to support and promote the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center, the Congressional Medal of Honor Society, both the Honoring the Sacrifice and Warrior Freedom Service Dogs aiding wounded veterans, the National Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, the Folds of Honor outreach, and Officer Christian Fellowship, the Air University Foundation, and Naval War College Foundation, and the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation. "Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

★ PUBLIUS ★

“Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!” —George Washington

Please join us in prayer for our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail and we would be united as Americans. Pray also for the protection of our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Please lift up your Patriot team and our mission to support and defend our Republic's Founding Principle of Liberty, that the fires of freedom would be ignited in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

The Patriot Post is protected speech, as enumerated in the First Amendment and enforced by the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, in accordance with the endowed and unalienable Rights of All Mankind.

Copyright © 2024 The Patriot Post. All Rights Reserved.

The Patriot Post does not support Internet Explorer. We recommend installing the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, or Google Chrome.