Saints: Life & Times
Lesson 2: Martyrs
Wholesale Persecution, and One Who Laughed
Although touching and often well documented, these occasional martyrdoms were nothing like the wholesale slaughters unleashed by Decius in 250, and sustained by succeeding emperors until 313. Whole cities were purged. In Nicomedia, a city in Asia Minor, 10,000 were officially slain and mob violence brought the figure closer to 25,000. (Companions, p. 58) The innumerable martyrs of Saragossa
were put to death in the Diocletian persecution by the cruel Spanish prefect Dacianus. When the faithful, -- men, women and children – were leaving the city . . . in response to his edict which banished all Christians, this prefect had his soldiers massacre them all. (Ibid., pp. 309-310)The emperors’ motives were many and varied. Decius wanted to purify Rome of foreign gods and thus strengthen the empire (remember the connection between religion and the state). (Founding, p. 491) His successor Gallus needed a scapegoat for a severe plague. (Ibid., p. 493) Valerian and his son Gallienus needed money to prop up a failing economy and to fight off invaders on every frontier. These same problems plagued succeeding emperors, many of whom were personally decent men and reluctant to launch religious persecutions. However, the Christians were rumored to be “secret traitors concealing vast wealth which the empire required for its survival.” (Ibid., p. 495) Eventually, the emperors acceded to bad counsel and once again Christians won the palm of martyrdom.
One of these martyrs would be fondly remembered throughout the universal Church. His name was Lawrence. As a deacon who assisted Pope St. Sixtus II, Lawrence was present on the evening of August 6, 258, when soldiers burst in upon Christians celebrating Mass in the catacomb of Callistus. The congregation formed a barrier between the Pope and the soldiers, demonstrating their willingness to die in his stead. Sixtus would not permit this, and came forward with four deacons who had been officiating with him at the altar. They were arrested and taken out. As Sixtus was leaving, Lawrence cried out, "Father, where are you going without your deacon?" The Pope answered, "My son, I will not leave you behind. In three days you will follow me." (Founding, p. 497) Sixtus was taken outside and beheaded on the spot, together with the four deacons. Lawrence, as predicted, was temporarily spared and ordered to gather the treasure of the Church and present it to the Prefect of Rome. Evincing a profound understanding of poverty, Lawrence distributed the Church’s earthly goods among the poor, and presented a group of the most destitute to the Prefect, proclaiming them to be the true treasure of the Church. The enraged official ordered Lawrence to be slowly roasted to death on a gridiron. But Lawrence’s joy and gentle humor have come down to us through the centuries. As he lay suffering the agony of a slow death, he could joke with his torturers, “You can turn me over now; I’m broiled enough on this side.” Both he and his “father” Sixtus were remembered in the canon of the Mass, said by every priest of the Latin rite throughout the world, for 1500 years. (Ibid., pp. 497-498)
Before we leave the early martyrs, let’s look at their rationale. Reason itself can never substitute for that heartfelt devotion which enables one to lay down his life for his faith, but God claims the whole person and the intellect will also praise Him. Many could not face the rigors of martyrdom and apostatized, but those who remained faithful followed the example of their Master and joined their suffering to His. As St. Paul had said, “I make up in my own body what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.” (Paraphrase of Col. 1:24) The elder Pionius of the church in Smyrna offered this explanation, manifesting both his classical education and his Christian hope:
It is good to live, but that life for which we yearn is better. And good it is to see the light [of day], but to see the true light is better. And all these things are good: but the reason we flee from them is not that we long for death, or hate God’s words, but because of the surpassing greatness of other things. (Founding, p. 492)
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