CHRISTIAN MARTYRS AND MARTYRDOM ACCORDING TO THE HOLY ORTHODOX CHURCH

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

CHRISTIAN MARTYRS AND MARTYRDOM
ACCORDING TO THE HOLY ORTHODOX
CHURCH.

The name MARTYR (from the Greek Μάρτυς} was first applied to the Holy Apostles as the authoritative witnesses of the life and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As persecutions began and spread everywhere, those who had undergone hardships for witnessing their faith were called martyrs. Finally, the name martyr was restricted only to those from among the persecuted who were put to torture and death. The Diocletian (Roman pagan emperor) era of persecutions that actually began in 303 A.D. is considered to be the ‘Era of the Martyrs’ until Saint Constantine the Great proclaimed in 313 A.D. at Milan freedom of belief and worship. Those Christians who suffered severe physical punishment but were not executed were accorded special honors by the Church. From the earliest time, MARTYRDOM, called BAPTISM OF BLOOD, was considered to be an equivalent of normal Baptism for those who had not been already baptized. And since the end of the 2nd century, THE ANNIVERSARY OF A MARTYR’S DEATH, CALLED HIS ‘HEAVENLY BIRTHDAY’, was kept as A FEAST with a celebration of the Divine Eucharist on his tomb, and later, churches were frequently built on these sites. The fame of martyrs often spread beyond their particular locality and even their own country. Their holy relics were sought after, they were VENERATED AS POWERFUL INTERCESSORS TO GOD ON BEHALF OF THE LIVING, AND THEIR LIVES WERE WRITTEN DOWN AND WIDELY READ. They were often elaborated by legends of the invention of their pious biographers. In the hierarchy of Sainthood, MARTYRS RANK FIRST. For an Orthodox Altar to be CONSECRATED, MARTYR’S HOLY RELICS MUST BE ENTOMBED IN IT.

The Holy Altar (Gk. Θυσιαστήριον – Αγία Τράπεζα. Although many of the early Holy Fathers of the Church speak of the Altar as ‘THE SACRIFICIAL TABLE,’ the name Holy Table finally came into use, the term ‘holy’ meaning Eucharistic. In the early Church the table on which the breaking of the Bread as a sacramental ‘ANAMNESIS’ (REMEMBRANCE) of the Lord’s Sacrifice was celebrated was of common wood, just as the table on which the Mystical (‘Last’) Supper took place. But as, in response to the rapid spreading of the faith of Christ, persecutions began to create the FIRST TRIUMPHANT CHURCH OF CHRIST, Christians used to gather in cemeteries and USE THE TOMBS OF THEIR HOLY BROTHERS AND SISTERS (HOLY MARTYRS) AS EUCHARISTIC TABLES. Gradually, the wooden altars of the early Church began to be replaced with stone altars usually bearing on tomp a stone or marble slab (Latin, mensa; Greek τράπεζα [trapeza]. But then it became necessary that the new altars should BEAR A SPIRITUAL AND PHYSICAL AFFINITY WITH THE TOMBS OF THE HOLY MARTYRS IN WHICH THEIR SACRED BODIES (RELICS) WERE LAIN.

The Sacred blood of the Holy Martyrs is seen as the "SEED OF THE CHURCH," signifying the growth of the faith through their sacrifice. Martyrdom is not only dying for one’s faith, but "witnessing" {μαρτυρία) to Christ through one’s torment and death and revealing to all the power of the Martyr’s faith even at the threat of persecution. In the Lives of the Saints we are told of the countless of Christian men, women, and children who confessed their faith before the pagan ruler or emperor and their willingness to die for Christ God and His Kingdom. We, as Orthodox Christians, venerate all the Saints and Holy Martyrs, praying for their intercessions (prayers) and drawing inspiration from their unconditional faith and great courage and fidelity to our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ. Those individual Christians who died for their faith during periods of persecution, such as those under the enslavement of Ottoman Turks (Moslems) for 400-500 years and later under communism, are also martyrs and we refer to them as the "Neo-Martyr." or ¨"Νew-Martyrs."

"The death of martyr’s is encouragement to the faithful, daring of the Church, confirmation of Christianity, destruction of death, proof of the Resurrection, mocking at demons, condemnation of the devil, teaching of true wisdom and a pious way of life, instillation of disdain for present material benefits and the path of striving for the good to come, comfort in the face of the misfortunes which befall us, an inducement to patience, instruction in courage, the root and fount and mother of all blessings…The blood of martyrs nourishes the Church muchmore than the moisture of dew brings gardens into bloom." {Saint John Chrysostomos}

Christians throughout the centuries were willing to be tortured and die for Christ. "Thus, a person is a martyr if with his death he bears witness to the fact that Christ has conquered death, that He was resurrected from the dead. One’s witness lies in this, and not in the fact that he has been tortured."

No Christian ever hesitated to openly and boldly confess his/her faith in Christ. The devout and faithful Christian is always prepared to face persecution and to suffer if need be for the Faith. The Christian’s first and only loyalty is to his/her Lord and Master Who suffered and died to save all of mankind. Just as He died for us, we, too, must be willing to suffer and die for Him.

Saint John Chrysostom writes, "Again, the memorial of the martyrs, and again a feast day and a spiritual solemnity. They suffered, and we rejoice; they struggled, and we leap for joy; their crown is the glory of all, or rather, the glory of the whole Church. How can this be? you will say. The martyrs are our parts and members. But :whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, or one member be honored, all the members rejoice with it" (I Corinthians 12:36). The head is crowned, and the rest of the body rejoices. One becomes a victor in the Olympic games, and the whole people rejoices and receives him with great glory. If at the Olympic games those who do not in the least participate in the labors receive such satisfaction, all the more can this be with regard to the strugglers of piety. We are the feet, and the martyrs are the head; but "the head cannot say to the feet, I have no need of you" (I Corinthians 12:21). The members are glorified, but the preeminence of glory does not estrange them from the bond with the other parts: for then especially are they glorious when they are not estranged from the bond with them." "If their Master is not ashamed to e our Head, then all the more are they not ashamed to be our members; for in them is expressed love, and love usually joins and binds things which are separate, despite their difference in dignity" [Saint John Chrysostom, 'Eulogy for the Holy Martyr Romanus"]. [Resources: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology and A Dictionary of Greek Orthodoxy]

_________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George