The Glorious Martyrs

The oft quoted words, '... the = blood of the=20 martyrs is the seed of the Church', quickly proved = themselves to be=20 true in the earliest centuries of Christianity. The truth of = the=20 Saviour's teachings in the parables of the kingdom was = proved in a=20 very short time. The handful of the apostles, like the seed = in the=20 sowers hand quickly yielded a great harvest. Like the = mustard seed,=20 the Church grew to great proportions in a short time. With = the onset=20 of the Roman persecutions, the Church, confirmed with the = annointing=20 of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost grew in strength. = The=20 persecution of the Christians by both the Jews and the = Romans were=20 like the winnowing of the grain, or the sorting of the sheep = from=20 the goats. Each and every Christian had to be ready to die = at any=20 moment, and when those Christians received the crown of = martyrdom,=20 they became shining examples to their fellow believers. For = every=20 Stephen who was stoned, there wer others who could be called = upon by=20 the Church, to step forward to labour in the Name of the = Lord, and=20 if necessary, receive a crown of martyrdom in the same Name. = No form=20 of savager torture and martyrdom invented by the Romans = could tear=20 the Church away from her Lord and Master.

Even allowing for the exulted = language of=20 hagiography, the martyrs met the ends of their earthly lives = with=20 great courage and firm faith in the Lord. If we remember the = wonderful story of Androcles and the lion, we will recall = that the=20 Christians, so close to their violent and bloody fate are = able to=20 save themselves by simply casting a few grains of incense = before a=20 stautue of the emperor. By this time the living emperors had = been=20 declared gods. How easy it would have been - a few grains of = incense=20 and freedom. Some must have fallen, but those whom we = celebrate as=20 martyrs remembered the Lord's words, 'Whoever loses his life = for my=20 sake shall gain it.' By the time the book of the Apocalypse = was=20 written the persecutions had started and the first martyrs = had=20 received their crowns, taking their places around the altar = of the=20 Lamb, seen in the vision of the Blessed Apostle, St John the = Theologian. The worst of the persecutions were yet to come, = and when=20 they did come, their ferocity and the number of martyrs were = reflected in the growth of the Church. The Church thrived = through=20 suffering. Christianity was lived with urgency and = commitment to the=20 teachings of the Gospels. One of the most popular martyrs is = saints=20 George, a representative of the many Roman citizens who = embraced=20 Christ and payed with their lives.

The martyrs, their lives and = witness form a=20 great foundation of our Orthodox Christian faith and the = Holy=20 Church. We literally place their relics in the cornerstones = of our=20 temples to stress their importance as pillars of faith. We = place=20 their relics inside the Holy Table or the antimins - the = altar cloth=20 - recalling the liturgy of the catacomb Christians,=20 celebrated on the tombs of the martyrs. We recall their = victory=20 of the devil and his servants when we enter the narthex of a = Byzantine monastery. Their great sufferings, quite beyond = our=20 understanding are portrayed in gory detail, yet these are = scenes of=20 victory, testimony to the Risen saviour who conquered death = by death=20 and to His teaching that the gates of hell will not prevail = against=20 His Church.

The holy martyrs dominate the = calendar of=20 the Church and are a constant cause and source of = celebration -=20 Saints George, Demetrios, Panteleimon, Barbara, Catherine,=20 Paraskeva, Triphon, the martyred apostles, the martyrs of = the Arab=20 and Turkish persecutions, the Old Believers martyred = for their=20 steadfast defence of Old Russian Orthodoxy and the new = maartyrs of=20 the Communist yolk. Their names, lives and sufferings remind = us that=20 the spectre of persecution has returned to the life of the = Church=20 again and again, and each time the spiritual life of the = people of=20 God has been renewed, vivified, invigorated and intensified. = Complacent Christians have been forced to examine their = faith. The=20 old wood has been pruned away and those willing to bear the = cross of=20 persecution and suffering have stood firm in faith. They = have=20 endured the pain, the sufferings and sorrows of Golgotha, = but in the=20 realisation that they will also share in the fruits of this=20 suffering in the Kingdom of Heaven. =

Following the 1666 council = that finally=20 rejected the ancient Russian Orthodox piety and Tradition, a = new age=20 of persecution and martyrdom started for those Russian = Christians=20 who clung their ways of faith. =

The Holy Fathers of the = Solovetsk=20 monastery on the White Sea were steadfast in their faith, = rejecting=20 Nikon and his rejection of Russian piety. They heroically = withstood=20 the attack of the Tsarist army between 1668 and 1676, when = they were=20 betrayed by one of their own number. Hundreds of monks were=20 butchered by the impious servants of the impious Tsar. Some = were=20 hanged by the neck, some suspended by their flesh on metal = hooks,=20 some drowned in ice holes and some frozen to death. They = received=20 their deaths as a gift of martyrdom from God, as a witness = for their=20 Lord who was broken, but rose again and was=20 = glorified.

The Archpriest Avaakum, the = Priest Lazar,=20 the Deacon Fedor and the Monk Epifanii were banished to the = far=20 north and cast into an earthen prison in Pustozersk. Apart = from our=20 Holy Father Avvakum, their tongues were ripped out and their = right=20 hands mutilated so that they could neither write, not cross=20 themselves. They suffered patiently for fourteen years = holding fast=20 to their faith. The Holy Father of Pustozersk were = martyred by=20 being burned alive on April 14th = 1682.

Over the = following=20 centuries, faithful Old Orthodox believers suffered for = their faith=20 in Christ, clinging to the Faith of the fathers and enduring = all for=20 the sake of Truth.

Our own = century brought=20 the horrors of the Russian revolution and the ensuing = persecution of=20 religion. Old Rite Orthodoxy has given us such martyrs as = the Holy=20 Hieromartyr, Bishop Raphael of Odessa who was arrested by = the=20 Soviets on charges of counter-revolutionary activity and = executed on=20 October 14th 1937.

In all of = the Holy=20 Martyrs we have friends and intercessors before the Lord. = Their=20 lives should give us strength in our weakness and their = spiritual=20 deeds should encourage us to struggle in the Lord's = name.

As the = world falls into=20 greater apostasy and those calling themselves 'Orthodoxy' = stray=20 further and further from the Truth, who knows what = persecutions may=20 arise. Maybe we shall be called upon to confess the Lord, = suffer for=20 His name and perhaps, we will be called upon to pay the = ultimate=20 price and receive the crown of martyrdom.

Holy = Martyrs, pray to God=20 for us.