Martyred While Praying

 Murdered during prayer.  This article relates how youth praying, in the Democratic Republic of Congo were killed.

At least 31 young people in Eucharistic adoration were killed late Sunday night during an attack on a Catholic church in Komanda, a town in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Ituri province. Local officials say the armed group responsible was the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamic State affiliate operating in Central Africa.

  Killed during praying fulfills my definition of martyr.  Lord, don't you see?  Have mercy on your children.

Fray Luis De Cáncer - Protomartyr

 Father Luis de Cancer is a martyr.  He was beaten to death trying to evangelize Florida in 1549.  The Spanish Conquistadors had raped and razed the land so badly that the natives were murderously hostile.  

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Servants of God Antonio Cuipa and companions
Roberto, one of the martyrs of La Florida
Died	Spanish Florida
Venerated in	Catholic Church
Feast	October 3

The Martyrs of La Florida (d. 1549–1706) were a group of Native American and Spanish Catholics killed in Florida during the Spanish Empire's colonial expansion into North America. The group of 86 individuals includes a number of priests and laypeople, killed by Native Americans and subjects of the British Empire.^[1] The lead martyr of the cause is the Native American layman Antonio Cuipa. Fr Luis Cáncer, OP is among the others killed, alongside a number of Dominicans, Jesuits, Franciscans, and various laypeople.^[2][1][3]

Their cause for canonization was opened in 2015 by Bishop Gregory Parkes of the Diocese of Pensacola–Tallahassee, along with support from bishop representatives in the dioceses of St. Augustine, St. Petersburg, Orlando, Palm Beach and Venice. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has also endorsed the cause.^[4]

  A Protomartyr is the first to be martyred.  Like St. Thecla is the first woman to be martyred and St. Stephen is the first male.  St. Peter of Verona is the first Dominican to be martyred.  Here's a list from Wikipedia.

St. Toribio Romo

Toribio Romo was born in Jalisco, Mexico in 1900.  He always wanted to be a priest and was ordained when he was 22.  But this was a time when religion was not only frowned upon, in Mexico, there were laws severely restricting Catholicism.  The President, Plutarco Elias Calles was very hostile towards Catholicism.  His anti-Catholicism fueled the Cristeros.

In order to minister to his people, Father Romo had to go underground.  He celebrated Mass in factories and residences.  I imagined he prayed for a lot of strength, but his fears didn't stop him.

On February 25, the government soldiers woke him up at 4:00 AM and shot him. The story of his martyrdom spread.  He became the patron saint of those who watch over migrants and refugeesand border crosses

.  In 2000, Pope John Paul II canonized Father Toribio Romo, along with 24 other martyrs murdered for their faith during the Cristero War.

Martyrs

How many martyrs do we not know?  For some reason, this is shocking, to me.  Imagine dying for God and no one knows.  Of course, God knows; but it doesn't seem right that there is no memorial or feast day, to acknowledge the martyr's sacrifice.

What brought on this line of thought?  Pope St. Martin I.  I don't think much is known about him.  He was elected pope in 649, which was a time when he knew he would probably die a martyr.  All the early popes were martyred.  How's that for a job description?  Why would anyone want the job?  There was no money in it.  There was negligible influence.  One would have to have a deep faith and trust in God to accept the position, otherwise, why do it.

When Martin I became pope, the patriarch of Constantinople was the most influential church leader in the world because Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine empire.  Also, the emperor of the Byzantine empire worked in conjunction with the patriarch.  There was no separation between church and state.

Prominent at the time was a teaching that stated that Jesus Christ had no human will.  We believe that Jesus had both -- human and divine.  The emperor believed in one divine will, only.  Martin I called an ecumenical council, Lateran, and condemned the teaching.  The emperor tried to turn the people and their bishops against the pope.  He tried to have the pope assassinated.  Then he sent his troops to Rome and captured Martin to bring him to Constantinople.  Martin was an ill man, anyway.  He died after being imprisoned and tortured.

For some reason, Pope Martin I's story touched me.  May he live in eternal life.

For this is the will of my Father,

that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him

may have eternal life,

and I shall raise him on the last day.

Paul Miki and Companions

Today, I'm teaching parents whose children are receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time.  I'm giving the parents the history of the sacrament.

This morning, I opened my prayer book to find out that today is the feast of Paul Miki and Companions.  I can use this feast in explaining the history of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  In early Christianity, the sacrament was public because Christianity was just beginning to develop.  Christianity was outlawed.  When it was discovered that you were Christian you were arrested, beaten, tortured, and killed in various horrendous ways.  Many denied that they were Christians.  That's apostasy.

Afterwards, these traitors tried to go to church.  What nerve, huh?  Of course, their brothers and sisters could see that they needed to be accepted back, so the deniers of Christ had to apologize to the community.  This is how the first confessions were done--publically.  The community decided on the penance.  Once the penance was fulfilled, the bishop came to give absolution.

I am afraid that I'd be a coward and deny Jesus.  I'd need the grace of God to not be afraid and be strong enough to declare that I am a child of Christ.

Then this morning, I read about Paul Miki and twenty-five companions who were martyred in Japan.  Not only were they not afraid, they were happy about it.  They rejoiced.  They sang Te Deum!

May God bless them! They rejoiced because they were dying for God.  They were hung on crosses, much like Jesus. They died with God's praises on their lips.

I think God for such brave Christians.  Their story is so moving that for the next couple of centuries Japanese Christians kept the faith underground.  The blood of martyrs watered the faith of Christ.

Let us pray for Christians who are persecuted throughout the world.

St. John of Gorcum & Companions -- Pray for us!

"Night now is over, rising sun casts splendor over the triumph of those valiant soldiers fallen in battle on the field of Gorkum; great in their courage!"

These words begin the Lauds hymn for the feast of St. John of Cologne, also known as St. John of Gorkum, (+ 1572, feast - July 9) and his 18 companions who were martyred in Holland by Calvinists. With the spread of Calvinism during the Reformation, the area of Gorkum had become overrun with Calvinists who would have nothing to do with the Catholic priests still living in the vicinity. So they imprisoned and tortured them in an attempt to get them to renounce the Church's teaching. These priests and religious, many of whom were Franciscans, remained steadfast in their faith.
    When St. John, who was serving in a parish in the nearby Hornar, heard of their plight, he obtained permission from his superiors to go and serve the priests incognito and offer them the sacraments. Eventually, he was caught and was subjected to the same torments that his fellow priests suffered. 
      Through various methods of torture, the Calvinists sought to get the priests to renounce the Eucharist and Papal supremacy. Yet, 19 of the 20 captured remained faithful (the other was not blessed to join them in martyrdom). As time went on, the Calvinists continued to try to get the faithful priests and religious to proclaim heresy. Ultimately, they would not, and so they were brought to Briel, and on the night of July 8th, they were taken to a barn outside the city.
         As they walked along, they heard one another's confessions, and upon arriving, they were hanged. One Dominican, eleven Franciscans, two Praemonstratensians, one Canon Regular of St. Augustine, and four secular priests offered their lives as witnesses to the truth of the Church's teachings on the Eucharist and the Papacy.
        That night, a couple of the Catholics in Gorkum, some of whom even thought there was a chance for the release of the prisoners, had visions of a troop of martyrs. Moreover, a shrub bearing 19 white flowers is said to have sprung up at the site of their martyrdom. Many miracles have been attributed to their intercession, especially the curing of hernias.
          May St. John of Cologne and his companions intercede for us that the Lord may grant us perseverance no matter what hardships or persecutions we may have to endure.

        "O God, who didst crown with the wreath of immortality the strife of Thy blessed Martyrs, John and his companions, for the faith, mercifully grant that, fighting here on earth, we may likewise deserve, through their merits and after their example, to be crowned with them in heaven. Through Christ our Lord."

www.Vocations.OPEast.org

www.DominicanFriars.org

Kiss of Peace

March 7th is the Memorial of Perpetua and Felicity.  In this morning's Office of Readings, from the story of the death of the holy martyrs of Carthage, I came across a passage that had me pause for reflection.

The people, however, had demanded that the martyrs be led to the middle of the amphitheater.  They wanted to see the sword thrust into the bodies of the victims, so that their eyes might share in the slaughter.  Without being asked they went where the people wanted them to go; but first they kissed one another, to complete their witness with the customary kiss of peace.


I knew that the Kiss of Peace was a custom from early Christianity.  I had no idea that it was so important a witness to Christian faith.

I had stopped giving the Kiss of Peace during Mass.  I don't hug, or even shake hands.  I nod to my neighbor--that's the extent of my witness.

But from now on, I'm giving a "kiss."  It's the least I can do.  Martyrs died giving witness, in just this way.

BTW, the picture is Dominic and Francis exchanging the Kiss of Peace.