{"id":72,"date":"2015-03-02T08:45:00","date_gmt":"2015-03-02T08:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/03\/modern-martyrs.html"},"modified":"2015-03-02T08:45:00","modified_gmt":"2015-03-02T08:45:00","slug":"modern-martyrs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/03\/modern-martyrs.html","title":{"rendered":"Modern Martyrs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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Lately the news have brought into our homes disturbing images of death and suffering. \u00a0 On February 15th a video from Libya showing the beheading of twenty-one Egyptian Copts dressed in orange jumpsuits was released. \u00a0The killers called the men \u201cpeople of the cross\u201d and swore to conquer Rome. \u00a0One of the Christian men is heard saying before his beheading, \u201cJesus, help me.\u201d<\/span><\/div>\n
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Martyrdom is the ultimate manner to be a witness of the faith. \u00a0In fact, the word martyr comes from the Greek word martus which means \u201cwitness.\u201d \u00a0From the early days of Christianity, the Church considered men and women who died for their faith to have perfectly imitated Christ by losing their lives for the sake of the Gospel. \u00a0After martyrs, confessors were held in highest esteem, those who had suffered persecution and torture for the faith, but had not been killed. \u00a0An example is the 7th century Maximus the Confessor who had his tongue chopped off so he would stop teaching the faith.<\/div>\n
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The Church understands that martyrdom is a grace received, not everyone will have the necessary strength to endure it. \u00a0During the persecution of Emperor Decius in AD 249 for example, many Christians throughout the Roman Empire died as martyrs, but a considerable number offered sacrifice to the official Roman deities in order to avoid death. \u00a0Once the persecution ended those who had denied Christ requested reentry into the Church, and the Church authorities did not know how to proceed. \u00a0Some suggested rebaptism was necessary since they had rejected Christ in such a disgraceful way, while others did not want the lapsed to be readmitted. \u00a0Confessors especially felt that the lapsed had taken the easy route during the persecution by offering sacrifice while they had persevered in the faith. \u00a0The bishop of Carthage in Africa, Cyprian, allowed those who had offered sacrifice to be accepted back into the Church as penitents, but they were not officially readmitted into the Church until their death-beds. \u00a0Priests who had denied Christ were not allowed to resume their former responsibilities. \u00a0<\/div>\n
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Saint Thomas Aquinas wrote that the virtue of fortitude enables a person to stand firm against and endure the hardships of life while remaining steadfast in the pursuit of what is good. \u00a0Fortitude is the virtue by which a person can overcome weakness, resist temptation, and make a sacrifice in order to achieve what is good. \u00a0Having fortitude does not eliminate fear, but rather, it allows the individual to persevere in doing what is good despite the fear he or she feels. \u00a0Aquinas wrote that martyrdom is the principle act of fortitude, or the most perfect exercise of this virtue. \u00a0Martyrdom requires standing firm in truth and justice against persecution despite fear for the greatest good possible, Jesus Christ. \u00a0<\/div>\n
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The twenty-one Christians martyred in Libya along with the thousands of men and women who are killed each year throughout the world on account of their faith are perfect examples of fortitude for every Christian. \u00a0Their witness enlivens the Church reminding all the faithful that it is worth dying for the living Gospel of Jesus Christ. \u00a0The martyrs have stood firm against the greatest hardship, losing one\u2019s life, and despite their fears, by God\u2019s grace, persevered.\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lately the news have brought into our homes disturbing images of death and suffering. \u00a0 On February 15th a video from Libya showing the beheading of twenty-one Egyptian Copts dressed in orange jumpsuits was released. \u00a0The killers called the men \u201cpeople of the cross\u201d and swore to conquer Rome. \u00a0One of the Christian men is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nModern Martyrs<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lately the news have brought into our homes disturbing images of death and suffering.   On February 15th a video from Libya showing the beheading of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/03\/modern-martyrs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Modern Martyrs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lately the news have brought into our homes disturbing images of death and suffering.   On February 15th a video from Libya showing the beheading of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/03\/modern-martyrs.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-03-02T08:45:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/03\/modern-martyrs.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/03\/modern-martyrs.html\",\"name\":\"Modern Martyrs\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-03-02T08:45:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2015-03-02T08:45:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"Lately the news have brought into our homes disturbing images of death and suffering.   On February 15th a video from Libya showing the beheading of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/03\/modern-martyrs.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/03\/modern-martyrs.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2015\/03\/modern-martyrs.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Modern Martyrs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. 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