Just a Thought: The oldest Christian Faith is here ( it is the rock on which the roots gave a 2000 Years old oak tree…of many branches

Just a thought: “The oldest Christian Faith is here: it is the rock on which the roots gave a 2000 Years old oak tree…of many branches… they would not exist without the common roots of  our  common FAITH.”

-George-B

Related articles

• American Voices: Report: Millennials Leaving Christian Faith In Droves
• Syrian Christian Beheads Jihadi As Revenge For ISIS Killings
• PHOTO: Courageous Christian in Pakistan Risks Life With Incredible Public Display in Muslim Country…
• BRITAIN: ‘ Christian Celebration for fifth year at Praise in the Park Homeless event ‘

Iraqi Christians have lost everything – except their faith, nun tells Congress :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

By Matt Hadro

Photo:  Sister Diana Momeka, OP appeared before the House of Foreign Affairs Committee in Washington D.C. on May 13, 2015. Credit: Matt Hadro/CNA.

Washington D.C., May 13, 2015 / 03:41 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Having lost their homes, their heritage and their sense of dignity, Iraqi Christians victimized by the Islamic State feel abandoned by earthly powers, but their faith in God has only grown, an Iraqi nun told members of Congress May 13.

The faith of homeless Iraqi Christians is “increasing more and more,” Sister Diana Momeka, O.P., told the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Many of the displaced lived in devastating conditions – families taking shelter in containers, parents without jobs and children without an education.

But Sister Diana insisted the spirit of the people has not been broken by the adversity.

“It’s making us stronger,” she said.

“We were displaced, yet we feel that the hand of God is still with us…In the midst of this darkness, this suffering, we see that God is holding us,” she explained, adding that it is a “gift of the Holy Spirit” to be able to stay and have faith through hardship.

Sister Diana was part of the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena, originally from Mosul in Northern Iraq. Islamist militants bombed their convent in 2009, and after the prioress sought protection from the local government and found none, Sister Diana and the community moved to Qaraqosh.

The ISIS onslaught caught up to them last summer. As the Islamic State swept through parts of Iraq and Syria, establishing a strict caliphate, more than 120,000 Iraqis were displaced on the Nineveh Plain, faced with the decision to convert to Islam, stay and pay a jizya tax to ISIS, or leave immediately.

The religious community moved again, this time to Kurdistan. “We were driven out of our homes in a couple of hours,” the nun described, “without any warning.”

Almost no Christians are left in Mosul, Sister Diana said, except for about 100 Christian hostages of ISIS.

Slated to testify before a congressional committee as part of an Iraqi delegation, Sister Diana’s application for a visa was initially denied by the local U.S. Consulate because of her status as an internally-displaced person.

Amid mounting pressure, she was later able to enter the United States and testified before the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee May 13 regarding “ISIS’s war on religious minorities.”

“I am but one, small person – a victim myself of ISIS and all of its brutality,” Sister Diana stated in written testimony before the committee.

“Coming here has been difficult for me – as a religious sister I am not comfortable with the media and so much attention,” she admitted. “But I am here and I am here to ask you, to implore you for the sake of our common humanity to help us.”

The Christians in Northern Iraq lost “most everything” when ISIS destroyed and desecrated churches, shrines, and other sacred sites, she said.

“We lost everything that today, every Christian that’s living in the region of Kurdistan, we feel we don’t have dignity anymore. When you lose your home, you lose everything you have. You lose your heritage, your culture.”

When monasteries that have existed for centuries have been destroyed, it is a sign that “your history is gone, you are nothing anymore,” the Iraqi nun explained.

Children are growing up without proper education and whole families’ lives have “changed tremendously,” she said. “We’re abandoned, that’s how we feel.”

The local and regional authorities have been of little help to the displaced, Sister Diana said in her testimony, calling their reaction to the crisis “at best modest and slow.” The Kurdish government allowed Christian refugees to enter its borders but did not offer any more significant aid.

The Church in Kurdistan has been a big help to Christians, though, providing food, shelter, and other support, she noted.

Ultimately, the displaced want to return home and not to be re-settled elsewhere, witnesses at the hearing insisted.

“There are many who say ‘Why don’t the Christians just leave Iraq and move to another country and be done with it?’“ Sister Diana stated in her testimony. “Why should we leave our country? What have we done?”

“The Christians of Iraq are the first people of the land,” she said. “While our ancestors experienced all kinds of persecution, they stayed in their land, building a culture that has served humanity for the ages.”

“We want nothing more than to go back to our lives; we want nothing more than to go home.”

Tags: Refugees, Faith, ISIS, Iraqi Christians

via Iraqi Christians have lost everything – except their faith, nun tells Congress :: Catholic News Agency (CNA).

Related articles

• Obama blocks Iraqi nun from describing Christian persecution
• Obama State Department Won’t Let Persecuted Iraqi Nun Enter US to Speak
• Iraqi Christian Num Barred From Entering The United States
• US State Department Responds To NR’s Report On Sister Diana Momeka – OpEd
• Iraqi Christian Leader, Sister Diana Momeka, Denied U. S. Visa Due to Refugee Status

 

today’s birthday: Miguel Hidalgo (1753)

Miguel Hidalgo (1753)

A national hero in Mexico, where the state of Hidalgo bears his name, Miguel Hidalgo was a priest and revolutionary leader who is regarded as the founder of the Mexican War of Independence movement. Influenced by the French Revolution, he launched a revolt against Spain in the early 19th century. Hidalgo led the rebels to several early victories but was captured, defrocked, and executed by firing squad along with other revolutionary leaders in 1811. What was done with their remains? More… Discuss

quotation: ― Augustine of Hippo

 

“Because God has made us for Himself, our hearts are restless until they rest in Him.”
― Augustine of Hippo

Augustine of Hippo by Sandro Botticelli, c. 1490. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

 

Monday: Archive of Did you know?

Drawing of Rome during the fourteenth century. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Archive of Did you know?

 

Catherine of Siena escorted pope Gregory XI at Rome on 17th January 1377. Fresco by Giorgio Vasari (30.07.1511-27.06.1574). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Monday

 

• …that there are approximately two billion Christians worldwide?
• …that there are usually 66 books in the Christian Bible?
• …that there are over 33 000 Protestant denominations in 238 countries worldwide?
• …that Jesus worked as a carpenter until the age of 30, when he began his ministry?
• …that during the Avignon Papacy from 1305 to 1378, several medieval popes resided in Avignon and not in Rome?

Avignon, Palais des Papes, France (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

today’s birthday: Montesquieu (1689)

Montesquieu (1689)

Charles-Louis de Secondat, Baron de la Brède et de Montesquieu, was a French social and political philosopher whose ideas profoundly influenced European and American political thought, particularly that of America’s founding fathers. He spent 15 years working on his masterpiece, De l’Esprit des lois—On the Spirit of the Laws—an immense comparative analysis of various forms of government comprising more than 600 chapters. What concept did he famously put forth in this work? More… Discuss

.@eharris_it Francis is NOT pope he has violated God’s law & Christ’s teachings & seeks to corrupt the #Catholic faith— Pray For Life (@Pray_4_Life)

.@eharris_it Francis is NOT pope he has violated God’s law & Christ’s teachings & seeks to corrupt the #Catholic faith .@cnalive .@Pontifex

— Pray For Life (@Pray_4_Life) December 31, 2014

this pressed for your right to know: A California town helped America get to the moon. Now it’s waiting for its next great economic rocket — Washington Post

A California town helped America get to the moon. Now it’s waiting for its next great economic rocket http://t.co/vkDlRVRiBh

— Washington Post (@washingtonpost) December 12, 2014

this pressed: Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis to Turkey (28-30 November 2014)

Apostolic Journey of Pope Francis to Turkey (28-30 November 2014).

Related articles

• Pope Francis begins Visit to Turkey
• Pope Francis arrives in Istanbul
• What Pope Francis Hopes To Accomplish In his visit to Turkey
• Pope Francis set for Turkey visit
• World › Pope Francis, in Turkey, pleads for dialogue to end extremism

quotation: No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent. Abraham Lincoln

No man is good enough to govern another man without that other’s consent.

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865) Discuss

Saint of the Day for Wednesday, September 24th, 2014: Martyrs of Chalcedon

 

Martyrs of Chalcedon

A group of forty-nine Christians slain in Chalcedon during the reign of Emperor Diocletian . Records indicate that the martyrs were members of the choir in the church of Chalcedon.   continue reading

More Saints of the Day

Martyrs of Chalcedon St. Anathalon St. Andochius Bl. Anton Martin Slomsek St. Bercthun St. Chuniald & Gislar

St. Gerard Sagredo St. Paphnutius St. Rupert of Salzberg St. Rusticus St. Ysarn

this pressed from Vatican News: Papal envoy to Iraq meets displaced Christians and Yazidis Vatican Radio

Papal envoy to Iraq meets displaced Christians and Yazidis Vatican Radio.

Related articles

• Vatican Urges Muslim Leaders To Denounce ‘Barbarity’ In Iraq
• ISIS Chopping Off Arms And Legs Of Yazidi Men For Being “Devil Worshippers”…
• Vatican urges Muslim leaders to condemn ISIS
• Vatican UN envoy says military action justified to save Christians in Iraq
• Pope calls on UN to do all it can to stop Iraq violence

Saint of the day, July 20, 2014: St. Margaret of Antioh

Nothing certain is known of her, but according to her untrustworthy legend, she was the daughter of a pagan priest at Antioch in Pisidia. Also known as Marina, she was converted to Christianity, whereupon she was driven from home by her father. She became a shepherdess and when she spurned the advances of Olybrius, the prefect, who was infatuated with her beauty, he charged her with being a Christian. He had her tortured and then imprisoned, and while she was in prison she had an encounter with the devil in the form of a dragon. According to the legend, he swallowed her, but the cross she carried in her hand so irritated his throat that he was forced to disgorge her (she is patroness of childbirth). The next day, attempts were made to execute her by fire and then by drowning, but she was miraculously saved and converted thousands of spectators witnessing her ordeal-all of whom were promptly executed. Finally, she was beheaded. That she existed and was martyred are probably true; all else is probably fictitious embroidery and added to her story, which was immensely popular in the Middle Ages, spreading from the East all over Western Europe. She is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers, and hers was one of the voices heard by Joan of Arc. Her feast day is July 20th.

More Saints of the Day

 

St. Margaret of Antioch St. Aurelius St. Barhadbesciabas St. Elias St. Etheidwitha St. Flavian & Elias St. Joseph of Barsabas

St. Margaret of Antioch St. Paul of St. Zoilus St. Sabinus St. Severa St. Severa St. Wilgefortis St. Wulmar

 

Sain of the Day Feastday April 23: St. George: Patron of England & Catalonia

Pictures of St. George usually show him killing a dragon to rescue a beautiful lady. The dragon stands for wickedness. The lady stands for God‘s holy truth. St. George was a brave martyr who was victorious over the devil.

He was a soldier in the army of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and he was one of the Emperor’s favorite soldiers. Now Diocletian was a pagan and a bitter enemy to the Christians. He put to death every Christian he could find. George was a brave Christian, a real soldier of Christ. Without fear, he went to the Emperor and sternly scolded him for being so cruel. Then he gave up his position in the Roman army. For this he was tortured in many terrible ways and finally beheaded.

So boldly daring and so cheerful was St. George in declaring his Faith and in dying for it that Christians felt courage when they heard about it. Many songs and poems were written about this martyr. Soldiers, especially, have always been devoted to him.

We all have some “dragon” we have to conquer. It might be pride, or anger, or laziness, or greediness, or something else. Let us make sure we fight against these “dragons”, with God’s help. Then we can call ourselves real soldiers of Christ. 

Related articles

• Where to celebrate St George’s Day in London
• Happy St. George’s Day from Evans Halshaw
• Upcoming event – Celebrate! St. George’s Day at Borough Market, London
• St George’s Day is for everybody
• SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. ACACIUS: Feastday: April 9
• ST. MARY OF EGYPT – Feastday: April 2

SAINT OF THE DAY: ST. ACACIUS: Feastday: April 9

ST. ACACIUS

Feastday: April 9

Death: 425 

Acacius was bishop of Amida (Diarbekir), Mesopotamia. He sold the sacred vessels of his church to aid victims of the Persian persecution. His actions so impressed King Bahram V that he is reported to have ordered an end to the persecution of the Christians. His feast day is April 9th.

April 9

St. Acacius St. Waldetrudis Bl. Thomas of Tolentino St. Casilda of Toledo St. Demetrius St. Dotto St. Eupsychius St. Gaucherius St. Hedda St. Hugh of Rouen St. Materiana Martyrs of Croyland Martyrs of Pannonia

 

Related articles

• The Slaughter of Christians By Turks and Kurds in Diarbekir in 1895
• Wednesday (April 9): “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples.”
• Saints and Feasts: Venerable Acacius of Sinai, who is mentioned in the Ladder
• Saints and Feasts: Martyr Polyeuctus of Melitene, in Armenia
• ST. CYRIL OF JERUSALEM – BISHOP AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: March 18

NEWS: UN FEARS SLAUGHTER IN CAR

UN Fears Slaughter in CAR

Despite the presence of thousands of French and African Union peacekeeping troops, sectarian violence continues to be a serious problem in the Central African Republic(CAR). Tensions between Christians and Muslims there have reached a “terrifying level,” according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and nearly 16,000 people living in the capital, Bangui, have had to flee their homes in recent weeks. The UNHCR, fearful that Muslims in areas near the capital are now at risk of being “slaughtered” by Christian militia, is working to evacuate some 19,000 Muslims from these areas. More… Discuss

ARTICLE: LENT

LENT
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Related articles

• Word of the week: Lent
• Lent Prayer 20 – March 24
  
• Lent (Latin: Quadragesima – English: Fortieth) is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar of many Christiandenominations that begins on Ash Wednesday and covers a period of approximately six weeks before Easter Day. The traditional purpose of Lent is the preparation of the believer through prayer, penance, repentance of sins, almsgiving,atonement and self-denial. This event, along with its pious customs are observed by Christians in the Anglican, Reformed,Lutheran, Methodist, and Roman Catholic traditions.^[1][2][3] Today, some Anabaptist and evangelical churches also observe the Lenten season.^[4][5]

Its institutional purpose is heightened in the annual commemoration of Holy Week, marking the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, which recalls the tradition and events of the New Testament beginning on Friday of Sorrows, further climaxing on Jesus’crucifixion on Good Friday, which ultimately culminates in the joyful celebration on Easter Sunday of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. During Lent, many of the faithful commit to fasting or giving up certain types of luxuries as a form of penitence. Many Christians also add a Lenten spiritual discipline, such as reading a daily devotional, to draw themselves near to God.^[6] TheStations of the Cross, a devotional commemoration of Christ’s carrying the Cross and of his execution, are often observed. Many Roman Catholic and some Protestant churches remove flowers from their altars, while crucifixes, religious statues, and other elaborate religious symbols are often veiled in violet fabrics in solemn observance of the event. Throughout Christendom, some adherents mark the season with the traditional abstention from the consumption of meat, most notably among Roman Catholics.^[7]

Lent is traditionally described as lasting for forty days, in commemoration of the forty days which, according to the Gospels ofMatthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus spent fasting in the desert before the beginning of his public ministry, where he endured temptation by the Devil.^[8][9] However, different Christian denominations calculate the forty days of Lent differently. Historically, the season of Lent lasts from Ash Wednesday to Holy Saturday and includes the Paschal Triduum.^[10][11] This duration has been maintained by most Western Christian denominations, including the Anglican Church,^[12] Lutheran Church,^[13] Methodist Church,^[14] and Western Rite Orthodox Church.^[15] However, after the liturgical abbreviations of the Second Vatican Council in the Roman Catholic Church, Lent, in that denomination alone, is now taken to end on Maundy Thursday rather than Easter Eve, and hence lasts 38 days excluding Sundays, or 44 days in total.^[10]

QUOTATION: Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Talent, lying in the understanding, is often inherited; genius, being the action of reason or imagination, rarely or never.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) Discuss

 

TODAY’S SAINT: ST. JOHN OF GOD

Feastday: March 8
John of God is patron saint of booksellers, printers, heart patients, hospitals, nurses, the sick, and firefighters and is considered the founder of the Brothers Hospitallers.
1495 – 1550
From the time he was eight to the day he died, John followed every impulse of his heart. The challenge for him was to rush to follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit gave him, not his own human temptations. But unlike many who act impulsively, when John made a decision, no matter how quickly, he stuck with it, no matter what the hardship.

At eight years old, John heard a visiting priest speak of adventures that were waiting in the age of 1503 with new worlds being opened up. That very night he ran away from home to travel with thepriest and never saw his parents again. They begged their way from village to village until John fell sick. The man who nursed him back to health, the manager of a large estate, adopted John.John worked as a shepherd in the mountains until he was 27. Feeling pressure to marry the manager’s daughter, whom he loved as a sister, John took off to join the Spanish army in the waragainst France. As a soldier, he was hardly a model of holiness, taking part in the gambling, drinking, and pillaging that his comrades enjoyed. One day, he was thrown from a stolen horse near French lines. Frightened that he would be captured or killed, he reviewed his life and vowed impulsively to make a change.

When he returned he kept his spur of the moment vow, made a confession, and immediately changed his life. His comrades didn’tmind so much that John was repenting but hated that he wanted them to give up their pleasures too. So they used his impulsivenature to trick him into leaving his post on the pretext of helping someone in need. He was rescued from hanging at the last minute and thrown out of the army after being beaten and stripped. He begged his way back to his foster-home where he worked as a shepherd until he heard of a new war with Moslems invading Europe. Off he went but after the war was over, he decided to try to find his real parents. To his grief he discovered both had died in his absence.

As a shepherd he had plenty of time to contemplate what God might want of his life. When he decided at 38 that he should go to Africa to ransom Christian captives, he quit immediately and set off for the port of Gibraltar. He was on the dock waiting for his ship when he saw a family obviously upset and grieving. When he discovered they were a noble family being exiled to Africa after political intrigues, he abandoned his original plan and volunteered to be their servant. The family fell sick when they reached their exile and John kept them alive not only by nursing them but by earning money to feed them. His job building fortifications was grueling, inhuman work and the workers were beaten and mistreated by people who called themselves Catholics. Seeing Christians act this way so disturbed John that it shook his faith. A priest advised him not to blame the Church for their actions and to leave for Spain at once. John did go back home — but only after he learned that his newly adopted family had received pardons.

In Spain he spent his days unloading ship cargoes and his nights visiting churches and reading spiritual books. Reading gave him so much pleasure that he decided that he should share this joy with others. He quit his job and became a book peddler, traveling from town to town selling religious books and holy cards. A vision at age 41 brought him to Granada where he sold books from a little shop. (For this reason he is patron saint of booksellers and printers.)

After hearing a sermon from the famous John of Avila on repentance, he was so overcome by the thought of his sins that the whole town thought the little bookseller had gone from simple eccentricity to madness. After the sermon John rushed back to his shop, tore up any secular books he had, gave away all his religious books and all his money. Clothes torn and weeping, he was the target of insults, jokes, and even stones and mud from the townspeople and their children.

Friends took the distraught John to the Royal Hospital where he was interned with the lunatics. John suffered the standard treatment of the time — being tied down and daily whipping. John of Avila came to visit him there and told him his penance had gone on long enough — forty days, the same amount as the Lord’s suffering the desert — and had John moved to a better part of the hospital.

John of God could never see suffering without trying to do something about it. And now that he was free to move, although still a patient, he immediately got up and began to help the other sick people around him. The hospital was glad to have his unpaid nursing help and were not happy to release him when one day he walked in to announce he was going to start his own hospital.

John may have been positive that God wanted him to start a hospital for the poor who got bad treatment, if any, from the other hospitals, but everyone else still thought of him as a madman. It didn’t help that he decided to try to finance his plan by selling wood in the square. At night he took what little money he earned and brought food and comfort to the poor living in abandoned buildings and under bridges. Thus his first hospital was the streets of Granada.

Within an hour after seeing a sign in a window saying “House to let for lodging of the poor” he had rented the house in order to move his nursing indoors. Of course he rented it without money for furnishings, medicine, or help. After he begged money for beds, he went out in the streets again and carried his ill patients back on the same shoulders that had carried stones, wood, and books. Once there he cleaned them, dressed their wounds, and mended their clothes at night while he prayed. He used his old experience as a peddler to beg alms, crying through the streets in his peddler’s voice, “Do good to yourselves! For the love of God, Brothers, do good!” Instead of selling goods, he took anything given — scraps of good, clothing, a coin here and there.

Throughout his life he was criticized by people who didn’t like the fact that his impulsive love embraced anyone in need without asking for credentials or character witnesses. When he was able to move his hospital to an old Carmelite monastery, he opened a homeless shelter in the monastery hall. Immediately critics tried to close him down saying he was pampering troublemakers. His answer to this criticism always was that he knew of only one bad character in the hospital and that was himself. His urge to act immediately when he saw need got him into trouble more than a few times. Once, when he encountered a group of starving people, he rushed into a house,stole a pot of food, and gave it to them. He was almost arrested for that charity! Another time, on finding a group of children in rags, he marched them into a clothing shop and bought them all new clothes. Since he had no money, he paid for it all on credit!

Yet his impulsive wish to help saved many people in one emergency. The alarm went out that the Royal Hospital was on fire. When he dropped everything to run there, he found that the crowd was just standing around watching the hospital — and its patients — go up in flames. He rushed into the blazing building and carried or led the patients out. When all the patients were rescued, he started throwing blankets, sheets, and mattresses out the windows — how well he knew from his own hard work how important these things were. At that point a cannon was brought to destroy the burning part of the building in order to save the rest. John stopped them, ran up the roof, and separated the burning portion with an axe. He succeeded but fell through the burning roof. All thought they had lost their hero until John of God appeared miraculously out of smoke. (For this reason, John of God is patron saint of firefighters.)

John was ill himself when he heard that a flood was bringing precious driftwood near the town. He jumped out of bed to gather the wood from the raging river. Then when one of his companions fell into the river, John without thought for his illness or safety jumped in after him. He failed to save the boy and caught pneumonia. He died on March 8, his fifty-fifth birthday, of the same impulsive love that had guided his whole life.

John of God is patron saint of booksellers, printers, heart patients, hospitals, nurses, the sick, and firefighters and is considered the founder of the Brothers Hospitallers.

 

TODAY’S SAINT: St. Polycarp

St. Polycarp

Feastday: February 23

Imagine being able to sit at the feet of the apostles and hear their stories of life with Jesus from their own lips. Imagine walking with those who had walked with Jesus, seen him, and touched him. That was what Polycarp was able to do as a disciple of Saint John the Evangelist.Feastday: February 23
But being part of the second generation of Church leaders had challenges that the first generation could not teach about. What did you do when those eyewitnesses were gone? How do you carry on the correct teachings of Jesus? How do you answer new questions that never came up before?

With the apostles gone, heresies sprang up pretending to be true teaching, persecution was strong, and controversies arose over how to celebrate liturgy that Jesus never laid down rules for.

Polycarp, as a holy man and bishop of Smyrna, found there was only one answer — to be true to the life of Jesus and imitate that life. Saint Ignatius of Antioch told Polycarp “your mind is grounded in God as on an immovable rock.”

When faced with heresy, he showed the “candid face” that Ignatius admired and that imitated Jesus’ response to the Pharisees. Marcion, the leader of the Marcionites who followed a dualistic heresy, confronted Polycarp and demanded respect by saying, “Recognize us, Polycarp.” Polycarp responded, “I recognize you, yes, I recognize the son of Satan.”

On the other hand when faced with Christian disagreements he was all forgiveness and respect. One of the controversies of the timecame over the celebration of Easter. The East, where Polycarp was from, celebrated the Passover as the Passion of Christ followed by a Eucharist on the following day. The West celebrated Easter on the Sunday of the week following Passover. When Polycarp went to Rome to discuss the difference with Pope Anicetus, they could not agree on this issue. But they found no difference in their Christian beliefs. And Anicetus asked Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in his own papal chapel.

Polycarp faced persecution the way Christ did. His own church admired him for following the “gospel model” — not chasing after martyrdom as some did, but avoiding it until it was God’s will as Jesus did. They considered it “a sign of love to desire not to save oneself alone, but to save also all the Christian brothers and sisters.”

One day, during a bloody martyrdom when Christians were attacked by wild animals in the arena, the crowd became so mad that they demanded more blood by crying, “Down with the atheists; let Polycarp be found.” (They considered Christians “atheists” because they didn’t believe in their pantheon of gods.) Since Polycarp was not only known as a leader but as someone holy “even before his grey hair appeared”, this was a horrible demand.

Polycarp was calm but others persuaded him to leave the city and hide at a nearby farm. He spent his time inprayer for people he knew and for the Church. During his prayer he saw a vision of his pillow turned to fire and announced to his friends that the dream meant he would be burned alive.

As the search closed in, he moved to another farm, but the police discovered he was there by torturing two boys. He had a little warning since he was upstairs in the house but he decided to stay, saying, “God’s will be done.”

Then he went downstairs, talked to his captors and fed them a meal. All he asked of them was that they give him an hour to pray. He spent two hours praying for everyone he had every known and for the Church, “remembering all who had at any time come his way — small folk and great folk, distinguished and undistinguished, and the wholeCatholic Church throughout the world.” Many of his captors started to wonder why they were arresting this holy, eighty-six-year-old bishop.

But that didn’t stop them from taking him into the arena on the Sabbath. As he entered the arena, the crowd roared like the animals they cheered. Those around Polycarp heard a voice from heaven above the crowd, “Be brave, Polycarp, and act like a man.”

The proconsul begged the eighty-six-year-old bishop to give in because of his age. “Say ‘Away with the atheists'” the proconsul urged. Polycarp calmly turned to the face the crowd, looked straight at them, and said, “Away with the atheists.” The proconsul continued to plead with him. When he asked Polycarp to swear by Caesar to save himself, Polycarp answered, “If you imagine that I will swear by Caesar, you do not know who I am. Let me tell you plainly, I am a Christian.” Finally, when all else failed the proconsul reminded Polycarp that he would be thrown to the wild animals unless he changed his mind. Polycarp answered, “Change of mind from better to worse is not a change allowed to us.”

Because of Polycarp’s lack of fear, the proconsul told him he would be burned alive but Polycarp knew that the fire that burned for an hour was better than eternal fire.

When he was tied up to be burned, Polycarp prayed, “Lord God Almighty, Father of your beloved and blessed SonJesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers, of the whole creationand of the whole race of the righteous who live in your sight, I bless you, for having made me worthy of this day and hour, I bless you, because I may have a part, along with the martyrs, in the chalice of your Christ, to resurrection in eternal life, resurrection both of soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. May I be received today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, among those who are in you presence, as you have prepared and foretold and fulfilled, God who is faithful and true. For this and for all benefits I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be to you with him and the Holy Spirit glory, now and for all the ages to come. Amen.”

The fire was lit as Polycarp said Amen and then the eyewitnesses who reported said they saw a miracle. The fire burst up in an arch around Polycarp, the flames surrounding him like sails, and instead of being burned he seemed to glow like bread baking, or gold being melted in a furnace. When the captors saw he wasn’t being burned, they stabbed him. The blood that flowed put the fire out.

The proconsul wouldn’t let the Christians have the body because he was afraid they would worship Polycarp. The witnesses reported this with scorn for the lack of understanding of Christian faith: “They did not know that we can never abandon the innocent Christ who suffered on behalf of sinners for the salvation of those in this world.” After the body was burned, they stole the bones in order to celebrate the memory of his martyrdom and prepare others for persecution. The date was about February 23, 156.

In His Footsteps:

When faced with challenges to your Christian life, try a version of Polycarp’s prayer of martyrdom: “Lord GodAlmighty, Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we have received knowledge of you, God of angels and powers, of the whole creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your sight, I bless you, for having made me worthy of this day and hour, I bless you, because I may have a part, along with the martyrs, in the chalice of your Christ, to resurrection in eternal life, resurrection both of soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. For this and for all benefits I praise you, I bless you, I glorify you, through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through whom be to you with him and the Holy Spirit glory, now and for all the ages to come. Amen.”

Prayer:

Saint Polycarp, sometimes Christ seems so far away from us. Centuries have passed since he and the apostles walk the earth. Help us to see that he is close to us always and that we can keep him near by imitating his life as you did.Amen

 

Related articles

• Blog Post 9 Question 1
• Commemoration of St. Polycarp, Bishop and Martyr, +23 February, circa AD 156
• Sunday (February 23): “Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect”
• 1. Matryrdom of Polycarp
• Days: February 23rd (Terminalia)

 

TODAY’S SAINT ST. DANIEL

St. Daniel

Died in 309, He and four companions, Elias, Isaias, Jeremy and Samuel were Egyptians who visited Christians condemned to work in the mines of Cilicia during Maximus persecution, to comfort them. … continue reading

 

Archbishop Chullikatt: Flagrant and widespread persecution of Christians in Middle East §RV

Archbishop Chullikatt: Flagrant and widespread persecution of Christians in Middle East §RV http://t.co/mXOZVPvsqs

— Vatican – news (@news_va_en) February 13, 2014

Related articles

• Archbishop testifies on ‘flagrant’ Christian persecution in Middle East
• House Subcommittee takes up Christian Persecution; Outrage still lacking
• Prince Charles: ‘Muslims Persecuting Christians’
• Archbishop condemns Christian attacks in C.Africa
• Persecution on the hearts of Archbishops

This Day in the YesteryeARCREATION OF THE WORLD, ACCORDING TO ARCHBISHOP JAMES USSHER (4004 BCE)

Creation of the World, According to Archbishop James Ussher (4004 BCE)

For centuries, Christian scholars have tried to deduce the precise date of creation, using Biblical sources to help guide them. One such scholar, 17th-century Irish archbishop James Ussher, devised a system of dates that sets the creation of the world at 4004 BCE. Ussher’s chronology rests upon the beliefs that creation began in autumn—the season that marks the start of the year according to the Jewish lunisolar calendar—near the autumnal equinox and that creation began on what day of the week? More…Discuss

 

Christmas Gifts We Were Blessed to Receive

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Depress the  following link, to count some of the most wonderful gifts we already possess:  Christmas Blessings Are Many And So Are The Gifts You Already Received…

Related Articles

• A Christmas Wish for All (socyberty.com)
• My Blessings and My Christmas Wishes (socyberty.com)