Rejoicing
Persecution, sometimes subtle, covert, and discriminatory, but more often clear, blatant, and overt, accompanied by physical as well as intellectual and deadly assaults, has journeyed alongside the Catholic Church down the centuries since her inception. This "fifth mark" of the one true Church, of course, was foreseen and predicted by Jesus, her divine Founder. Cardinal John Henry Newman wrote, "This may not be the age of the saints, but all times are the age of martyrs."
One of the ironies of Church history resides in the fact that, despite the pain, suffering, and even death involved in her being persecuted, those children of the Church who are deeply spiritual and prayerful are able to confront persecution without hatred or bitterness, but actually with joy. This comes from following what Christ said, "Blessed are you when men reproach you and persecute you, and, speaking falsely, say all manner of evil against you for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, because your reward is great in heaven" (Matthew 5:11-12).
After the incident when the Apostles were whipped and scourged by the Jewish Sanhedrin, they went out "rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus" (Acts of the Apostles 5:41). Saint Peter told the early Christian community over which he presided, "Rejoice in so far as you are partakers of the sufferings of Christ, that you may also rejoice with exultation in the revelation of His glory. If you are upbraided for the name of Christ, blessed will you be, because the honor, the glory, and the power of God and His Spirit rest upon you." (1 Peter 4:13-14).
Pope's Words
At the conclusion of his great encyclical letter entitled "The Splendor of Truth" (Veritatis Splendor), Pope John Paul II in 1993 wrote that in the early days of the Church "countless martyrs accepted persecution and death rather than perform the idolatrous act of burning incense before the statue of the Emperor (Revelation 13:7-10). They even refused to feign such worship, thereby giving an example of duty to refrain from performing even a single concrete act contrary to God's love and the witness of faith. Like Christ Himself, they obediently trusted and handed over their lives to the Father, the One Who could free them from death (Hebrews 5:7)."
"Martyrdom, accepted as an affirmation of the inviolability of the moral order, bears splendid witness both to the holiness of God's law and to the inviolability of the personal dignity of man, created in God's image and likeness. This dignity may never be disparaged or called into question, even with good intentions, whatever difficulties may be involved (Mark 8:36). Martyrdom is an outstanding sign of the holiness of the Church. Fidelity to God's holy law, witnessed to by death, is a solemn proclamation and missionary commitment "to the point of blood" (usque ad sanguinem), so that the splendor of moral truth may be undimmed in the behavior and thinking of individuals and society. This witness makes an extraordinarily valuable contribution to warding off, in civil society and within the ecclesial communities themselves, a headlong plunge into the most dangerous crisis which can afflict man, the confusion between good and evil… (Wisdom 2:12; Isaiah 5:20)."
"Although martyrdom represents the high point of the witness to moral truth, and one to which relatively few people are called, there is nevertheless a consistent witness which all Christians must be daily ready to make, even at the cost of suffering and grave sacrifice. Indeed, faced with the many difficulties which fidelity to the moral order can demand, even in the most ordinary circumstances, the Christian is called, with the grace of God invoked in prayer, to a sometimes heroic commitment. In this he or she is sustained by the virtue of fortitude, whereby, as Saint Gregory the Great teaches, one can actually love the difficulties of this world for the sake of eternal rewards."
Catechism
The Catechism of the Catholic Church says, "Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith. It means bearing witness even until death. The martyr bears witness to Christ Who died and rose, to Whom he is united by charity. He bears witness to the truth of faith and of Christian doctrine. He endures death through an act of fortitude." Saint Ignatius of Antioch, who succeeded Saint Peter as the Bishop of that See after Peter went to Rome, and who suffered martyrdom under the Emperor Trajan in the year 112 A.D., said, while on his way to Rome to face the lions in the amphitheater, "Neither the pleasures of the world nor the kingdoms of this age will be of any use to me. It is better for me to die in order to unite myself to Christ Jesus than to reign over the ends of the earth. I seek Him Who died for us. I desire Him Who rose for us. My birth is approaching. Let me become the food of the beasts through whom it will be given me to reach God."
He said too, "Fire and cross, battling with wild beasts, their clawing and tearing, the breaking of bones and mangling of members, the grinding of my whole body, the wicked torments of the devil..let them assail me, so long as I get to Jesus Christ."
The Catechism also quotes Saint Polycarp, who was the Bishop of Smyrna, a disciple and friend of Saint John the Apostle and placed by him as the shepherd of that See. He was arrested for being a Christian leader, was tried, and condemned to death in the year A.D. 155 under the Emperor Marcus Aurelius. Just before his execution, he prayed, "I bless You for having judged me worthy from this day and this hour to be counted among Your martyrs… You have kept Your promise, O God of faithfulness and truth. For this reason and for everything I praise You. I bless You. I glorify You through the eternal and heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son. Through Him Who is with You and the Holy Spirit, may glory be given to You now and in the ages to come. Amen." Experts on this matter, say that it is most likely that the prayer said by Saint Polycarp before his death was an excerpt from the Canon of Mass as it was celebrated at that time in Smyrna, which is now called "Izimir" in present day Turkey.
Saint Justin, who was martyred in the early second century said to the persecutors of the Church, "Although you do all in your power to force us to deny Christ, we resist you and prefer to endure death, confident that God will give us all the blessings He promised us through Christ." May all the holy martyrs pray for us that we may always recognize the true Church by her marks, including the fifth one, persecution.
