Martyr of Christ from next door. The first Christian martyrs
During his earthly ministry, the Lord Jesus Christ prophesied to His followers: "If I was persecuted, you will be persecuted." At the same time, He promised a great reward to those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness: “Blessed are you when they reproach you and persecute you and speak unrighteously in every way for me. Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven."and san ok
Christian martyrs today
I was born in the city of Cheon Jin, North Korea, where I lived for about 50 years. In 1996, by the grace of the Lord, I was able to immigrate to South Korea with my son.
I grew up in North Korea and lived without knowing God. For nothing, for nothing, I was sentenced to death penalty, then she was pardoned and sentenced to life work in a concentration camp for political prisoners. There I met Christians in North Korea who are being terrible torture in a concentration camp, and would like to tell you about their life.
Since I graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the Kim Il Sung Institute, in the concentration camp I was assigned to work in the financial department, and I began to deal with calculations and control the production of six thousand political prisoners. Due to the nature of my work, I could move freely around the concentration camp and visit different places.
One day my boss called me and said to me very seriously: today you will work at a special factory where crazy assholes have gathered. These mentally ill idiots don't believe in the Party and our leader Kim Jong Il, they believe in God, so be on your guard when you go there. And in no case do not look into their eyes, otherwise you will still believe, like them, in God. But, look, the day I find out about this, your life will immediately end."
When I came and saw those people, I was very frightened and surprised, because they did not look like people. They worked in a white-hot oven with temperatures above 1500 degrees, and when I saw how they move, I thought that this was a bunch of some animals, after all, some kind of aliens, but by no means people. They all had no hair on their heads, skull-like faces, all completely toothless. Everyone was very short, 120, 130 cm. And when they moved, they looked like dwarfs pressed to the ground.
I moved closer and looked at them. And she was amazed. All these people arrived at the concentration camp as healthy, normal growth people, but due to 16-18 hours of hellish work without food and rest near a red-hot stove, due to temperature and constant bullying and torture, their spine softened, bent, resulting in a hump. , the body was all curved, and the chest was almost close to the stomach.
Everyone who was imprisoned at this plant had mutilated bodies, they all became freaks. I think that if a person was put under pressure and crushed, then the person they turned into would not have come out.
Overseers constantly approached them and did not give any orders. They simply beat the unreasonable workers with whips made of cowhide.
These people who believed in Jesus Christ had no clothes. At first it seemed to me that they were wearing black clothes, but as I got closer, I saw that they were only wearing rubber aprons. Flaming burning sparks and drops of burning red-hot metal escaped from the furnace onto their dry bodies, burning and burning the skin to such an extent that it was completely wounded and burnt and generally looked more like the skin of wild animals than human skin.
Once I saw something that is hard to put into words, to such an extent it was disgusting, cruel and terrible. On that day in the afternoon, when I opened the door of the factory, there was dead silence inside. And so the overseers gathered hundreds of prisoners in the middle of the hall and, with sparkling eyes, began to shout loudly. I became very scared, and I did not dare to go inside, but continued to watch through the open door.
The overseers began to shout: "If any of you decides and renounces faith in God, and promises to believe in the party and the leader, then we will immediately set him free and he will live." Then they began to beat people with whips and kicks. But none of the hundreds of these people uttered a word, and they all endured the blows of whips and boots in silence. I became scared and in my soul there was a desire that at least one of them would come forward, and then these tortures would stop on him, otherwise they could beat him to death like that. Well, at least one would. That's what my thoughts were at that moment. And, shaking with fear and horror, I watched as people who believed in Jesus Christ continued to remain silent.
Then the head warden came up to them and randomly chose 8 people and put them on the ground. And all the guards pounced on them and began to beat them furiously with their feet, from which, after a few moments, the Christians turned into a bloody mess, with broken ridges and arms. And when they groaned, writhing in pain, their mouths let out a groan, but the groan was very strange.
At that moment, I didn't know Who the Lord is and Who God is. Only later did I find out that at the moment when their bones and skulls cracked and their muscles were torn from blows, the sound like a pitiful groan was an appeal to the Lord, they called out in the name of Jesus Christ.
I could not convey even a small part of the pain and suffering that really happened. Jumping, raging guards began to shout: "Now we will see which of us will live, you believers in God, or we believe in the leader and the party." They brought boiling red-hot iron and poured it on the bloody mess of Christians, in an instant they melted alive, their bones burned, and only coals remained of them.
For the first time in my life, I saw how before my eyes people turned into a pile of ashes. I was shocked to such an extent that I immediately ran away from that place, and for a very long time I could not close my eyes, as the picture of how people burn and turn into a pile of ashes appeared before me again and again. I couldn't work, I couldn't sleep. I cried, screamed in a loud voice, lost my mind when remembering what happened.
Until that day, there was room in my soul for faith in the leader and the party, but after this incident, I realized what I should believe in. At that place, I realized that a person must hold fast to the Lord. At that moment, I began to look for the God to whom my mother prayed throughout her life. I began to search for God with all my heart: "Those people died, burning, at the cost of their lives they believed in God! God, if You are in Heaven, save me ...". I cried with my soul, in a dream and in reality I searched, searched and asked God. And the Lord heard my sincere prayers.
Once a month, there was a day of execution in the concentration camp, and all 6,000 prisoners were planted on the ground, and Christians believing in God were planted in the front row. But for all believers in God Who Exists in Heaven, a special order was given by Kim Jong Il so that all of them during their lifetime until the day of death did not look at the sky, so they were obliged to sit, bowing their necks to their knees and laying their heads on the ground. And after death, in order for them not to see the sky, they broke their necks, tying their heads to their bodies, and buried them in a deaf and dark place.
That day, all the believers sat with their heads bowed between their knees in the front row, and all the rest behind them. Everyone was waiting for someone to be sentenced to death today. And then suddenly, in a loud voice, the head of the concentration camp calls my name.
At that moment, it was like a heavy hammer blow on my head for me, my legs gave way, and the guards, taking me by the arms, led me to the middle. And when I stood in front of everyone, the chief said: "By the grace of the leader and the party, you can leave here, you are free." At that moment, the believers sitting in front, hearing about my amnesty, raised their heads, as if they knew what had happened between me and God. I looked into their eyes they seemed to sincerely and earnestly asked, saying: "Come out of here, tell the whole world about us."
And their crying, pleading eyes still shine in my soul. And I believe that God heard my mother's prayers for me, and brought me out of that concentration camp, which you can only enter, and leave only after death. I believe that God saved me. The Lord saved me and my son.
I can't forget the look of those Christians from the North Korean concentration camp. And I think they're martyrs for Christ's sake in our generation.
Dear brothers and sisters! I wish you to thank God from the bottom of your heart that you live in a free country where you can believe in Jesus Christ! Please be sure to pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for North Korea!!!
recorded by the French radio company Mechonde
How do they pray for the North Korean Christian martyrs in the "Christian" church of the neighboring country of Korea in the Moscow Patriarchy?
DECR Communication ServiceIn the newly built Orthodox Holy Trinity Church in Pyongyang, on the day of the feast of the Nativity of Christ, the Divine Liturgy of Basil the Great was celebrated. Representatives of the Russian diplomatic corps, diplomats from other Orthodox countries, in particular, came to worship at the church. Thanks to the church built in August last year, all Orthodox foreigners living in the DPRK were able to celebrate Christmas.
At the end of the service, which was performed by Korean clergy in the Church Slavonic language, the rector of the temple, Father Theodore, congratulated the parishioners on the great holiday. Despite the cold weather and strong wind, believers gathered after the service for festive table under open sky, according to the site "Orthodoxy in North Korea" with reference to ITAR-TASS.
The Holy Trinity Church, consecrated on August 13 by Metropolitan Kirill of Smolensk and Kaliningrad, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, was erected on the personal instructions of North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. Construction began in 2003 with the active support of the Russian Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Committee of the DPRK, as well as the Russian Embassy in this country. The Korean side completely took over the financing of the project. During the construction process, donations were received from various sources. So, church utensils were completely brought from Russia.
Konstantin Preobrazhensky
Korean Chekists serve as MP deacons
Construction nearing completion in Pyongyang (article written in early 2006 ed.) patriarchal church Life-Giving Trinity, although religion is prohibited in this country, and belief is considered a political crime. But Kim Jong Il made an exception for his Russian friend Putin and even kindly allocated about a million dollars from the budget of his impoverished country for the construction. This gives him the right to be called "Builder of this temple."
Let us pray to the Lord for the builder of this temple! From now on, the deacon will proclaim at every service.
Making a North Korean dictator an object of religious worship has never been done before by any foreign president! The appearance of the Temple of the MP in the capital of the DPRK is a sign of Kim Jong Il's great personal friendship with Putin, in defiance of the Americans.
Kim was so kind that on this occasion he even founded a new government agency The Orthodox Committee of the DPRK, although officially there has not been a single Orthodox believer in this country for more than half a century.
A delegation from this phony Committee recently traveled to Moscow. In the Patriarchy, she visited only one department, except for the outward church department. What would you think? By interaction c armed forces and law enforcement! I wonder what she needed there? It seems that Kim Jong Il considers the Patriarchate a paramilitary organization designed to solve special problems.
The appearance of the MP temple in Pyongyang creates a channel for secret contacts for both leaders, inaccessible to international control. After all, no one will know what messages silent priests in black cassocks will bring to Pyongyang.
And now four students from the DPRK are studying at the Moscow Theological Seminary. I wonder where they came from? After all, if they were true believers, they would have been imprisoned at home. The answer suggests itself from the North Korean Ministry of State Security. Kim Jong Il is creating an Orthodox church in his country according to the Stalinist model, with the hands of the Chekists.
But all officers of friendly intelligence services accredited in the Russian Federation are under the unobtrusive patronage of the Foreign Intelligence Service. They are invited to rest houses, to closed meetings, banquets. It is interesting, when leaving the Trinity-Sergius Lavra for Moscow, do North Korean seminarians say to their confessor like this: “Bless, father, for a trip to the Reception House of the SVR, in Kolpachny Lane”? I wrote about this a year ago in an article "Spy Church" which can be found on the Internet.
Now the North Korean KGB seminarians, having become deacons of the Moscow Patriarchate, are on probation at St. cathedral Vladivostok. They say without embarrassment that they took up Orthodoxy on the orders of secular authorities. This seems completely natural to them; they were not taught to think differently in the seminary.
Orthodoxy is difficult and difficult for us, but our great leader Comrade Kim Jong Il decided to build Orthodox church in Pyongyang, Deacon Fyodor told reporters.
"This is the sin of dual faith, for which the Lord will punish more than unbelief. A Christian cannot worship the Lord and the powers of darkness at the same time," Archpriest Mikhail Ardov explained to me. "In North Korea, the cult of the Kim family reigns, accompanied by wild rites", he continued, "Bishop of Vladivostok and Primorsky Veniamin should not let the North Korean brethren on the threshold of the temple, even under the threat of his prohibition in the priesthood. This is precisely his episcopal duty, but he preferred the second, showing Sergianism in action. It is noteworthy that the same Bishop Veniamin, being a professor at the Moscow Theological Academy, was famous as a strict zealot of Orthodoxy. His example shows why in the Moscow Patriarchy, in principle, cannot have good bishops."
The foundation stone of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Pyongyang was consecrated in July 2003 by the current Metropolitan MP of Kaluga and Borovsk Kliment. It is said that Putin wants to make him Patriarch: it is no coincidence that he brought Metropolitan Kliment into the Public Chamber, a fearful presidential talking shop designed to replace civil society. For the weakening Patriarch Alexy II, they say that they are building a luxurious villa on the island of Valaam to live in retirement, and construction site first occupied federal Service protection, the ministry of personal bodyguards of Putin, the former 9th directorate of the KGB. After all, Alexy II is an important government official who oversees the loyalty of the nation.
Metropolitan Kliment, like all Putin's nominees, is a member of the KGB. This can be seen from his biography from 1982 to 1990 he was the administrator of the patriarchal parishes, first in Canada and then in the USA. In the years" cold war"Only a KGB agent could be appointed to this position. Like the head of every Soviet institution abroad, he had to know exactly which of the priests subordinate to him were real and which were fake, from the KGB, so as not to punish them for mistakes in worship and absenteeism "And this is a state secret. And our Church is separated from the state. How can one entrust state secrets to a churchman, a representative of a hostile environment? How can one guarantee that he will not spill this secret? Only one recruitment, which firmly puts a person on the hook of compromising materials, carefully By that time, Metropolitan Kliment was already considered a verified agent, since he was allowed to communicate with foreigners as early as 1977 to participate in ecumenical meetings.
Blessed means happy, pleasing to God. In the ninth beatitude, the Lord names those who, for the name of Christ and for the true Orthodox faith persecution, reproach, and even death are patiently endured in Him. Such a feat is called martyrdom. The highest example of this feat is Christ the Savior Himself. Inspired by the example of the Lord, many Christians gladly went to torment, considering it the greatest blessing to accept suffering for their Savior.
Before death on the cross Christ said: "For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth." Translated from Greek word"martyr" means witness. Through suffering, the holy martyrs testified to the true faith.
The first evangelizers of the Christian faith were the apostles. Their preaching spread far beyond the boundaries of the Holy Land, where the Lord Jesus Christ blessed them for a great mission. For the pagan world, preaching about the Resurrection of Christ and the salvation of man from sin was alien and incomprehensible. Christian faith was dangerous both for the Jewish priesthood and for the pagans of the Roman Empire. Their way of life was inconsistent with the commandments of Christ.
The first Christians lived and preached in conditions of severe persecution from the authorities and the people. Many of them became martyrs for their faith, and their great patience and forgiveness led to the adoption of Christianity by many witnesses of their feat.
Martyrs appeared in the apostolic age. Their feat of confession was the result of persecution by the Jews, who looked upon Christians as dangerous sect and accused them of blasphemy. The first martyr was the holy Apostle Archdeacon Stephen. He was the eldest among the seven deacons appointed by the apostles themselves, which is why he is called an archdeacon.
When Stephen was stoned, he exclaimed in a loud voice: "Lord, do not impute this sin to them." These words were spoken by Christ when he prayed for his crucifiers: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."
The persecution of Christians by the Roman authorities began during the time of Emperor Nero in the middle of the first century after the birth of Christ. The ruthless ruler took advantage of a major fire in Rome and declared him the perpetrators of the Christians. The people, who knew little about Christianity and imagined it as a dangerous sect, readily supported the massacres of believers.
The most severe persecutions occurred during the reign of Emperor Diocletian at the end of the third century after Christ and in subsequent years. Christians were forced to renounce their faith and make sacrifices pagan gods.
Feeling the imminent danger to their lives, the first Christians gathered daily and nightly for prayer and Communion. Worship services where Divine Liturgy, they spent in the catacombs at the tombs of the holy martyrs. Them righteous image life, piety and fortitude served as examples for the rest of the world. After the publication in 313 of the Edict of Milan, adopted by Emperor Constantine, in which Christianity is recognized as a permissible religion, the persecution ceased.
Those who survived the torment and died a natural death are called confessors. Among those who were persecuted were priests and bishops. Priests who suffered martyrdom for Christ are revered as holy martyrs.
The most famous of them in the first centuries were St. Clement Pope of Rome and Hieromartyr Ignatius the God-bearer. Saint Ignatius, according to legend, was one of the children whom Christ held in his arms, and for this Christians call him the God-bearer.
In the history of the Russian Church, the first martyrs appeared even before the baptism of Russia by Prince Vladimir. In 983 Kyiv pagans killed two Christian Varangians, father and son Fedor and John.
In the eleventh century, the holy princes, the passion-bearers Boris and Gleb, were killed. They died as a result of internecine strife, preferring martyrdom to the sin of fratricide. Their humility in death, following Christ and non-resistance to tormentors show us a true Christian feat. The burial places of Christian martyrs in ancient times became the center of church life. Divine services were performed on the graves of the martyrs. And at the present time, particles of the relics of the martyrs are placed in the foundation of the church altars.
The Church chooses the day of his death as the day of remembrance of the martyr, as the day of a new birth into eternal life.
The first martyrs for Christ can be considered about two thousand babies from Bethlehem, who were killed at the command of King Herod of the Jews. When Jesus Christ was born, they came to Judea, which was the revelation of the birth of the Messiah. They came to King Herod and told about it, asking King Christ. Herod thought that Jesus would be the kind of king who would overthrow the current ruler from the throne. He found out from the Magi about where Christ should be born. Having received information about the city of Bethlehem, Herod, because of his anger and fear, sent soldiers there with the aim of killing all babies under one year old who were born at the approximate time of the birth of the Savior. Thus, many mothers lost their children. However, Christ remained alive, as the Magi told about the intention of the king. Mother of God, Elder Joseph and baby Jesus fled to Egypt.
First Martyr Archdeacon Stefan
Among the first Christian martyrs, the Church mentions the holy archdeacon Stephen, who suffered for his faith in Christ as God. The book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles, written by Luke, tells of the death of the saint. He was stoned to death by the teachers of the law for his faith in Christ. A certain Saul took part in the murder of the saint, who then himself converted to Christ and became known to the whole world under the name of the holy Primate Apostle Paul. The archdeacon was put to death approximately in the fourth decade after Christ. His memory Orthodox Church performs on January 9th. The saint himself was also one of the 70 apostles of Jesus Christ. He preached in Jerusalem, for which he was condemned by the Jewish Sanhedrin.
μάρτυς is a “witness”, and in this sense this word can refer to the apostles as witnesses of the life and resurrection of Christ, who received the gift of grace to confess the divinity of Christ, the manifestation of God the Word in the flesh and the advent of a new kingdom in which man is adopted by God (cf. Acts 2 .32). In Christianity, Jesus Christ showed an example of voluntary martyrdom by his sufferings on the cross and death to his followers. Appearing to the apostles after the resurrection, Christ says: “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses (μάρτυρες) in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1.8). With the spread of persecution against Christians, this gift of witness is attributed primarily to the martyrs, who, by their voluntary death for the faith, testified to the power of the grace given to them, which turned suffering into joy; thus they testify to the victory of Christ over death and to their adoption by Christ, that is, to the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven, achieved by them in martyrdom. In this sense, "martyrdom is the continuation of the apostolic ministry in the world" (V. V. Bolotov). At the same time, martyrdom is following the path of Christ, repeating the passions and redemptive sacrifice of Christ. Christ appears as the prototype of martyrdom, the testimony of his own blood. Answering Pilate, He says: “For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to testify (μάρτυρήσω) about the truth” (John 18:37). Hence the name of Christ as a witness (martyr) in the Apocalypse: "... from Jesus Christ, who is a faithful witness (μάρτυς), the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth" (Ap. 1.5; cf. Ap. 3.14).These two aspects of martyrdom are fully manifested already in the feat of the first Christian martyr, the first martyr Stephen. Stephen, standing before the Sanhedrin who had condemned him, “looking up into heaven, he saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, and said: behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7. 55-56); he thus bears witness to the Kingdom of Heaven, which was opened to him during and as a result of his martyrdom. Martyrdom itself is reminiscent of the passion of Christ. When Stephen was stoned, he “exclaimed with a loud voice: Lord, do not impute this sin to them. And having said this, he rested” (Acts 7:60). The words of forgiveness realize the pattern that Christ gave at the crucifixion, saying: "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). Thus, in his martyrdom, Stephen follows the path of Christ.
AT early period it is martyrdom that most of all contributes to the spread of the Church, and in this respect it also acts as a continuation of the apostolic ministry. The first expansion of the Church is correlated with the martyrdom of St. Stephen (Acts 8:4 et seq.), this martyrdom also prepared the conversion of the Apostle Paul (Acts 22:20). Eleven of the twelve apostles (except the Apostle John the Theologian) ended their lives as martyrs. And in the future, right up to the Edict of Milan, martyrdom, as the strongest evidence of faith, was one of the foundations for the spread of Christianity. According to Tertullian, the blood of Christians was the seed from which faith grew.
History of martyrdom
So, the first martyrs appear in the apostolic period. Their martyrdom was the result of persecution by the Jews, who viewed Christians as a dangerous sect and accused them of blasphemy. The New Testament contains several testimonies of the martyrs who suffered from these persecutions. In addition to the already mentioned martyrdom of St. Stephen, here it is said, for example, about Antipas, "a faithful witness (μάρτυς)" of God, who was put to death in Pergamum (Ap. 2. 13). Roman authorities in this initial period Christians are not persecuted without distinguishing them from Jews (Judaism was a permitted religion in Rome - licita - religion). Thus, the Jews in several cases tried to betray St. Paul to the Roman authorities, but these authorities refused to condemn the apostle, because they considered the charges against him as religious disputes within Judaism, in which they did not want to interfere (Acts 18.12-17; Acts 23.26-29; Acts. 26. 30-31).
The persecution of Christians by the Roman authorities begins with the time of Emperor Nero (54-68). They fall into three main periods. The first period includes the persecution under Nero in 64 and the persecution under Domitian (81-96). During this period, the Roman authorities did not yet consider Christianity as a special religion hostile to it. Under Nero, Christians are persecuted, blamed for the fire of Rome; under Domitian, they are persecuted as Jews who do not declare their Judaism and refuse to pay the "Jewish tax".
The spread of Christianity in different strata of Roman society (far beyond the boundaries of the Jewish community) makes the Roman authorities realize that they are dealing with a special religion, and a religion hostile to both the Roman political system and the traditional cultural values of Roman society. Since that time, the persecution of Christians as a religious community begins. There is no exact chronology here. The most important document for this period of persecution is a letter from Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan (circa 112). Pliny asks Trajan what legal procedure he should follow in persecuting Christians. He asks this question because he "has never been present at an investigation about Christians." From these words, we can conclude that the persecution of Christians as a religious community had already taken place by this time. Trajan, in his answer, speaks of the legitimacy of the persecution of Christians, moreover, of the legitimacy of persecution "for the very name" (nomen ipsum), that is, for one belonging to the Christian community (since, according to Roman laws, Christians, by virtue of their convictions, committed two crimes - sacrilege, expressed in refusal to sacrifice to the gods and swear in their name, and lèse majesté).
Trajan, however, points out that there is no need to "seek out" Christians, they are subject to trial and execution, for example, being torn to pieces by lions, only when someone brings charges against them. Trajan also writes that "those who deny that they are Christians, and prove it in practice, that is, pray to our gods, should be pardoned for repentance, even if in the past they were under suspicion." On these principles - with some deviations - and based persecution of Christians in the second period. During this period, the martyrdom of such revered Christian saints as St. Polycarp of Smyrna (d. c. 155) and St. Justin the Philosopher. In order to understand the veneration of saints in the ancient Church, the principle of the voluntariness of torment should be especially emphasized.
The third period begins with the reign of Emperor Decius (249-251) and continues until the Edict of Milan in 313. In the edict issued by Decius, the legal formula for the persecution of Christians is changed. The persecution of Christians was made a duty of government officials, that is, it was not the result of the initiative of a private accuser, but part of state activity. The aim of the persecution, however, was not so much the execution of Christians as the compulsion of them to renounce. For this, sophisticated torture was used, but those who withstood them were not always executed. Therefore, the persecutions of this period, along with the martyrs, give many confessors.
Primates of churches were the first to be persecuted. The persecution was by no means constant, and was interspersed with periods of almost complete tolerance (edict of Emperor Gallienus, 260-268, which provided the primates of the churches with freedom to engage in religious activities). The most severe persecutions occur at the end of the reign of Diocletian (284-305) and subsequent years. In 303-304 years. a number of edicts are issued depriving Christians of all civil rights, ordering the imprisonment of all representatives of the clergy and demanding that they renounce Christianity (sacrifice); the last edict of 304 ordered all Christians in general to be compelled everywhere to make sacrifices, achieving this by any torture.
Martyrdom in these years was massive, although in different provinces the persecution was carried out with different intensity (the most severe they were in the east of the empire). The persecution ceased after the issuance of an edict in 311, in which Christianity was recognized as a permitted religion (although the restrictions on Christian proselytism were not explicitly removed), and in full after the Edict of Milan in 313, which proclaimed complete religious tolerance.
The history of Christian martyrdom, of course, does not end there. Martyrdom, including mass martyrdom, also took place later, under the Aryan emperors, in the Persian Empire, in various countries where Christianity clashed with paganism, during the struggle of Islam with Christianity, etc. However, it is precisely the history of martyrdom in ancient period is of decisive importance for the theological understanding of the martyr's feat, for establishing the veneration of martyrs (and generally the veneration of saints) and the development of its forms, which makes it necessary Special attention to this period.
Veneration of martyrs
The veneration of martyrs develops in ancient times, apparently, simultaneously with the spread of martyrdom itself. Quite early it is clothed in certain institutionalized forms; although these forms evolve over time, a number of fundamental elements are consistently preserved through all changes. These elements are also central to the formation of the cult of saints in general. The understanding of martyrdom as the triumph of grace over death, the achievement of the Kingdom of Heaven, the path to which was opened by the death and resurrection of Christ, and, accordingly, as the foretaste of the general resurrection in the flesh, is reflected in the emerging cult forms, primarily in the church commemoration of the martyr and the celebration of his memory, in prayer appeal to the martyrs as "friends of God" and intercessors of people before God, in veneration of the graves of the martyrs and their remains (relics).
According to the “Martyrdom of Polycarp of Smyrna” (Martirium Policarpi, XVIII), every year on the anniversary of his death, believers gathered at the grave of the martyr, served a liturgy and distributed alms to the poor. These basic elements formed the original cult of the saints. The annual commemorations of the martyrs were understood as remembrances of the day of their new birth (dies natalis), their birth in eternal life. These celebrations included the reading of the acts of martyrdom, the meal of remembrance, and the celebration of the liturgy. In the III century. this order was already universal. Such commemorations could assimilate individual elements relevant pagan rites (for example, the distribution of koliva). Buildings were erected over the graves, in which (or next to which) a commemoration was performed (gr. μάρτύρον lat. memoria); one of the models for them was the late Jewish memorial buildings on the graves of the prophets. After the cessation of persecution, the construction of such buildings is further developed; in the East, a church was often attached to the mausoleum in which the relics were kept; in the West, the relics were usually kept under the altar of the church itself.
As a result of the development of the veneration of martyrs, the places of Christian burials became the center of church life, the graves of martyrs became revered shrines. This meant a radical change in the late antique worldview, in which the city of the living and City of the dead were separated by an impenetrable line, and only the city of the living was a place of social life (the cemeteries were located outside the city limits). This change in consciousness became especially radical when the relics of the martyrs began to be transferred to the cities, around which ordinary burial places were also grouped (since burial next to the martyr was seen as a means of obtaining his intercession).
The development of the veneration of martyrs prompted the Church in the 4th-5th centuries, after the cessation of persecution, to regulate this veneration in a certain way. Some of its forms, coinciding with pagan ones, began to be perceived as remnants of paganism and were condemned (for example, Blessed Augustine of Hippo objects to the organization of memorial feasts on graves). Bl. Jerome Stridonsky says that such excesses are explained by the "simplicity of the laity and, of course, pious women." In this context, the acts of martyrdom are being reviewed and the martyrs canonized. The celebration of the memory of the martyrs and the construction of memorial churches over their graves receives canonical sanction. The celebration of memory develops from a private ceremony performed over the grave into a church-wide celebration - first at the level of the local church community, and then the whole church. The days of remembrance of various martyrs (dies natalis) are combined into an annual cycle, recorded in martyrologies. On this basis, an immovable annual circle of church services is formed.
The idea of martyrs as intercessors for people before God, as constantly present members of the church community, was also expressed in the rite of the liturgy. Martyrs from ancient times are specifically mentioned in the prayer of intercession (intercessio), pronounced immediately after the transposition of the Holy Gifts (epiclesis), and a special particle is separated for them on the proskomedia (during the preparation of the Holy Gifts). In honor of the martyrs, the fifth particle is taken out of the third, so-called "nine-fold" prosphora, divided according to the ranks of the saints. According to the Russian service book, this particle is taken out “in honor and memory” of “The Holy Apostle, First Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen, the Holy Great Martyrs Demetrius, George, Theodore Tyrone, Theodore Stratilates and all the holy martyrs and martyrs: Thekla, Barbara, Kyriakia, Euphemia and Paraskeva , Catherine and all the holy martyrs "(in various Orthodox traditions names may vary).
In the history of the Russian Church, the first martyrs appeared even before the baptism of Russia by Prince Vladimir: according to the Tale of Bygone Years, in Kyiv, the pagans killed two Varangian Christians (father and son, see John Varangian). Sts. were killed in the city. princes Boris and Gleb; the understanding of their death as martyrdom testifies to the expansion of this very concept in Russian spirituality: although Sts. Boris and Gleb were killed not for their faith, but as a result of civil strife, their humility in death and following Christ and the honored martyrs in non-resistance to the tormentors were perceived as a Christian feat. The Russian martyrs also include a number of saints who suffered for their faith in the Horde (Prince Mikhail Vsevolodovich Chernigov and his boyar Theodore, Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Tverskoy), Lithuanian martyrs who suffered from the pagans under Olgerd in the city, etc. Currently, the process of canonization is underway martyrs of the Russian Church who suffered after
Martyrs of the Old Believers
- Martyrs of Borovo: Boyarynya Morozova, Princess Evdokia Urusova, Maria Danilova
It began to spread, then it had enemies in the face of Jews who did not believe in Jesus Christ. The first Christians were Jews who followed Jesus Christ. The Jewish leaders were hostile to the Lord. In the very beginning, the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified. Then, when the preaching of the apostles began to spread, the persecution of the apostles and other Christians began.
The Jews could not come to terms with the power of the Romans and therefore did not like the Romans. The Roman procurators treated the Jews very cruelly, oppressed them with taxes and offended their religious feelings.
In the year 67, the uprising of the Jews against the Romans began. They were able to free Jerusalem from the Romans, but only temporarily. Most of Christians took advantage of the freedom of exit and went to the city of Pella. In the 70th year, the Romans brought new troops, who very cruelly suppressed the rebels.
After 65 years, the Jews again rebelled against the Romans. This time, Jerusalem was completely destroyed and it was ordered to plow through the streets as a sign that there was no longer a city, but a field. The Jews who survived fled to other countries. Later, on the ruins of Jerusalem, a small city "Aelia Capitolina" grew up.
The fall of the Jews and Jerusalem has the significance that the great persecution of Christians by the Jews ceased.
Second Persecution from the pagans of the Roman Empire
St. Ignatius the God-bearer, Bishop of Antioch
Saint Ignatius was a disciple of Saint John the Theologian. He is called a God-bearer because Jesus Christ Himself held him in His hands when He said the famous words: “Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” (). In addition, Saint Ignatius was like a vessel that always bore the name of God within itself. Around the year 70 he was ordained bishop of the Church of Antioch, which he ruled for over 30 years.
In the year 107, the Christians, with their bishop, refused to take part in the revelry and drunkenness that had been organized on the occasion of the arrival of Emperor Trajan. For this, the emperor sent the bishop to Rome for execution with the words "Ignatius chained to the soldiers and sent to Rome to be devoured by beasts to amuse the people." Saint Ignatius was sent to Rome. The Christians of Antioch accompanied their bishop to the place of martyrdom. Along the way, many churches sent their representatives to greet and encourage him and show him their attention and respect in every possible way. On the way, Saint Ignatius wrote seven epistles to the local churches. In these epistles, the bishop urged them to preserve the right faith and obey the divinely established hierarchy.
Saint Ignatius went to the amphitheater with joy, repeating the name of Christ all the time. With a prayer to the Lord, he entered the arena. Then the wild beasts were released, and with fury they tore the saint to pieces, leaving only a few bones of him. The Christians of Antioch, who accompanied their bishop to the place of martyrdom, collected these bones with reverence, wrapped them up like a precious treasure, and took them to their city.
The memory of the holy hieromartyr is celebrated on the day of his repose, December 20/January 2.
St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna
Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, together with Saint Ignatius the God-bearer, was a disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian. The apostle ordained him Bishop of Smyrna. He held this position for more than forty years and endured many persecutions. He wrote many letters to Christians of neighboring Churches to strengthen them in pure and right faith.
The Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp lived to old age and was martyred during the persecution of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (the second period of persecution, 161-187). He was burned at the stake on February 23, 167.
The Holy Hieromartyr Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, is commemorated on the day of his presentation, February 23/March 8.
St. Justin, a Greek by origin, became interested in philosophy in his youth, listened to all the philosophical schools then known, and did not find satisfaction in any of them. Having become acquainted with the Christian doctrine, he was convinced of its divine origin.
Having become a Christian, he defended Christians from the accusations and attacks of the pagans. Famous two apologies written in defense of Christians, and several works that prove the superiority of Christianity over Judaism and paganism.
One of his opponents, who could not overcome him in disputes, denounced him to the Roman government, and he fearlessly and joyfully met his martyrdom on June 1, 166.
The memory of the Holy Martyr Justin the Philosopher is celebrated on the day of his presentation, June 1/14.
Holy Martyrs
Together with the martyrs in the Church of Christ there are many women holy martyrs who suffered for the faith of Christ. From a large number Christian martyrs in ancient church, especially remarkable: the saints Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, the Great Martyr Catherine, Queen Augusta and the Great Martyr Barbara.
Sts. Martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia
The Holy Martyrs Vera, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia lived in Rome in the 2nd century. Sophia was a Christian widow and brought up her children in the spirit of holy faith. Her three daughters bore the names of the three major Christian virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13). The oldest was only 12 years old.
They were reported to Emperor Hadrian, who continued to persecute Christians. They were summoned and beheaded in front of their mother. This was around 137. The mother was not executed and she was even able to bury her children. After three days, due to the shock experienced, Saint Sophia died.
The memory of the holy martyrs Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia is celebrated on September 17/30.
Great Martyr Catherine and Queen Augusta
The Holy Great Martyr Catherine was born in Alexandria, descended from a noble family and was noted for her wisdom and beauty.
Saint Catherine wanted to marry only her equal. And then one old man told her about a young man who was better than her in everything. Learning about Christ and Christian doctrine Saint Catherine was baptized.
At that time, a representative of the emperor Diocletian (284-305), known for his cruel persecution of Christians, arrived in Alexandria. When Maximin called everyone to pagan holiday, Saint Catherine fearlessly reproached him for worshiping pagan gods. Maximinus imprisoned her for disrespecting the gods. After that, he gathered scientists to dissuade her. The scientists were unable to do this and pleaded defeated.
Queen Augusta, the wife of Maximin, heard a lot about the beauty and wisdom of Catherine, wished to see her, and after the meeting she herself also converted to Christianity. After that, she began to defend St. Catherine. For everything, it was Tsar Maximin who killed his wife Augusta.
Saint Catherine was first tortured with a wheel with sharp teeth, and then her head was cut off on November 24, 310.
The memory of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine is celebrated on the day of her death, November 24/December 7.
Holy Great Martyr Barbara
The Holy Great Martyr Barbara was born in Iliopol of Phoenicia. She was distinguished by her extraordinary intelligence and beauty. At the request of her father, she lived in a tower specially built for her, away from relatives and friends, with one teacher and several slaves.
Once looking at beautiful view from the tower and after a long reflection, she came to the idea of a single Creator of the world. Later, when her father was away, she met Christians and converted to Christianity.
When her father found out about this, he betrayed her to cruel torment. The torment did not affect Varvara in any way, and she did not renounce her faith. Then the Holy Great Martyr Barbara was sentenced to death and her head was cut off.
The memory of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara is celebrated on the day of her repose, December 4/December 17.