THE HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN MARTYRS AND DIVINE MARTYRDOM

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.

THE HOLY ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN MARTYRS AND
DIVINE MARTYRDOM.

"O holy Martyrs who have contested well
and have been crowned, intercede with the
Lord, that mercy be granted to our souls."
[Troparion]

"The Word (Logos) of God enlightened the world by His
Incarnation, and through Him sprung forth the multitude
of the martyrs which spilled their blood in great suffering
making themselves protectors of those in need for this
we sing to you." [Eikos 1]

"Let the passions you endured be a help toward our
own passions and let the wounds of your body be a
protection for the pains that trouble our rest. Give us
therefore in perils, your patience, O Holy Martyr, so
through it we may achieve the salvation of our souls
and strengthen our shortcomings, so we can sing:
Alleluia!" [Kontakion]

Prayer to the Holy Great Martyr and Wonderworker
Menas of Egypt.

O, Most Holy and all-lauded Great Martyr and wonder-worker Menas
receive this prayer from me, your unworthy servant, because to you,
as a true fountain of healings, ready to help and miraculous helper,
I come with tears of repentance to your holy icon and pray: See my
loss, O Holy Martyr, my insufficiency and my wickedness, see the
wounds and the plague of my soul. Therefore, I pray to you, blessed
and Holy Menas, hasten to help me with your holy prayers and sustain
me you servant. Take heed to my sorrows and do not overlook me the
sinner, for I know , O Holy Martyr of God that you endured dreadful and
terrifying tortures from the lawless ones for the love of Christ, but
through these sufferings you live enlightened today and you found the
gift from God. We are certain that even after your divine passing from
the ephemeral life, all the ones that asked your help with faith in your
church were not deceived and continued to receive your help. For
who called you for help and you did not hear? Or who called you,
O wonder-worker, and you overlooked? Or who, being at loss and
running to your help, did not recover his deficit?"

In the Orthodox Church there is a liturgical book known as the MARTYROLOGION that lists Saints, particularly MARTYRS, with their feast days, and the hymns are the liturgical chants and prayers associated with them. Hymns are chanted for the various divine services i.e., Divine Liturgies, including daily prayers, feasts, and other services, to honor the Saints and holy Martyrs, who are remembered in the Martyrologion.

According to the Eastern Orthodox Church, a MARTYR is a Christian who suffers and dies for their faith rather than deny Christ. A holy Martyr is considered a "a witness" and is someone who has been persecuted, tortured, and killed for their steadfast belief, viewing their death as a path to holiness and a way to gain Christ and His Kingdom. This is different from someone who is simply killed unjustly. The word "martyr" comes from the Greek word for "witness." Holy Martyrs, men, women and children, are seen as witnesses to their faith, testifying to the truth of our Lord Jesus Christ, even unto torture and death. There are of course those who fall into a special category known as "Great-Martyrs." These are Saints who endured horrific and extreme tortures, often performing miracles and converting others during their martyrdom.

The Holy Apostle in his epistle to the Hebrews writes: "Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockiings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth" (Ephesians 11:35-38).

"The Cross is the path of the Christian and the Church. The Orthodox Christian finds spiritual strength in the awareness that after the Lord’s death on the Cross there followed the Resurrection; that by the Cross the world has been conquered; that if we die with the Lord we shall reign with Him, and shall rejoice and triumph in the manifestation of His glory (I Peter 4:13). The Cross is the BANNER of the Church. From the day when our Savior bore the Cross on His shoulders to Golgothaand was crucified on the material Cross, the Cross became the visible sign and banner of Christianity, of the Church, of everyone who believes in Christ.

With the Cross is bound up the whole grandeur of our redemption, which reminds us of the necessity of personal struggle for the Christian. In the representation of the Cross, even in its name, is summed up the whole history of the Gospel, as also the history of MARTYRDOM and the confession of Christianity in all ages."

Saint John Damascene sums up what has been accomplished through the Cross, which, as he says, is a term denoting the death of Christ: "Every action of Christ and all His working of miracles were truly very great and Divine and wonderful, but of all things the most wonderful is His honorable Cross. For nothing else except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ has death been brought low, the sin of our first parent destroyed, hell plundered, resurrection bestowed, the power given us to despise the things of this world and even death itself, the road back to the former blessedness made smooth, the gates of Paradise opened, our nature seated at the right hand of God, and we made children and heirs of God…"

There is no greater Martyr than our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ who sacrificed His life on the Cross to save mankind. On Holy Thursday evening the Priest carrying the Crucifix proceeds all around the Church, reciting the following Hymn: "Today is hung upon the Tree, He Who suspended the land in the midst of the waters. A crown of thorns crowns Him, Who is the King of Angels. He is wrapped about with the purple of mockery, Who wrapped the Heavens with clouds. He received buffetings, Who freed Adam in the Jordan. He was transfixed with nails, Who is the Son of the Virgin. We worship Thy Passion, O Christ, Show also unto us Thy Glorious Resurrection."

There have been countless martyrs following the Divine Martyrdom of our Savior God Jesus Christ. Orthodox Christians and Christians in general have never ceased to suffer and die for the Faith, for Christ Himself. Every century since our Lord’s crucifixion is soaked in Christian blood who would rather suffer and die than betray Christ and the Church. As long as their persecution of Christianity there will be martyrs. Even currently Christian are persecuted, suffer and are executed by infidels in various parts of the world. However, the true spirit of a Christian Martyr is always the same as that of our Lord Jesus Christ who forgave His enemies and executioners from the Cross: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34). These Divine words form a remarkable prayer, showing the boundless mercy and agape of the Crucified Jesus. The first holy Martyr to emulate the Lord was Stefanos (Stephen) who was stoned to death. But before he died said, "Lord, do not charge them with this sin" (Acts 7:60). The Martyrdom of Saint Stefanos, whose name means CROWN in Greek, [ A MARK OF VICTORY OR HONOR], and who is called the PROTOMARTYR (FIRST MARTYR), was the beginning of the widespread s PERSECUTION of the early Christians. [Resources: Orthodox Dogmatic Theology and Orthodox Study Bible]

__________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
+ + +

With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry)
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George