martyrs

"Like as the armèd knyght Appoynted to the fielde, With thys world wyll I fyght, And fayth shall be my shielde."

"Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me."

"“And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write,"

"Greet Andronicus and Junia, my countrymen and my fellow prisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me."

"Christopher Dare...asked me, wherefore I said, I had rather to read five lines in the Bible, than to hear five Masses in the Temple: I confessed that I said no less: not for the dispraise of either the Epistle or the Gospel, but because the one did greatly edifie me, and the other nothing at all."

"It has been said that Saint Januarius is the soul of Naples. One could say even more. Saint Januarius is the sentiment of a people who, despite the defeats, disappointments, and bitterness suffered throughout their long and painful history, still find the strength to hope, to fight, and to live."

"I know that the religious sentiment of our people is often, and wrongly, labeled as colorful folklore, in which legend and magic, sacred and profane, merge in our millennial history, which, in the eyes of cold secularism, appears incapable of distinguishing superstition from faith. It is true that much superstition still creeps into the authentic Christian message, but I believe that superstition should not be confused with popular piety. This people, who, since the first liquefaction of blood, have taken St. Januarius as the protector of their city, know how to grasp, in the manifestation of the miracle, the profound meaning of faith: the hope of resurrection. It is an inexpressible mystery which, in order to be conceived, requires symbols capable of representing the link between pain and redemption. The blood that has miraculously come back to life is a sign that refers to the immortality of the soul, to life beyond death, to the resurrection of the flesh."

"Yet I considered it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus, my brother, fellow worker, and fellow soldier, but your messenger and the one who ministered to my need; 26 since he was longing for you all, and was distressed because you had heard that he was sick. For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. Therefore I sent him the more eagerly, that when you see him again you may rejoice, and I may be less sorrowful. Receive him therefore in the Lord with all gladness, and hold such men in esteem; because for the work of Christ he came close to death, not regarding his life, to supply what was lacking in your service toward me."

"Indeed I have all and abound. I am full, having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma, an acceptable sacrifice, well pleasing to God."

"That blessed Blood remains frozen and hard all year round, as if it were stone, and then, on the first Saturday of May, it is brought in procession to collide with the Head, whereupon it liquefies and turns red, so that it seems to have just flowed from a vein, and it is considered a bad omen in Naples every time this miraculous effect does not occur, as it has been observed that some kind of misfortune always befalls the city, as if that saint took the city of Naples under his protection and, foreseeing its misfortunes, signaled them in this way."

"The miracle of San Gennaro has always been and will continue to be for a long time to come a major event for the great family of the Neapolitan people. All the governments that have ruled over that land, where it is easier to tyrannize men than to emancipate them, know this."

"With the kings, their heirs, relatives, in-laws, and friends discarded, the Neapolitans were left with their patron saint, in the very sense of a father from whom they could hope not for miracles, but for bread in the wild. From this legitimate desire to "a barbaric cult of blood." There is a big difference. San Gennaro, largely manipulated by the clergy to keep the unwary in check, became a weapon of blackmail in their hands in the unyielding hope of taming those who had and could."

"The Neapolitan is outside history; or rather, he has been so deeply involved in it and so mistreated, mocked, and ridiculed that he has ended up stepping out of time, creating his own eternal environment dominated, of course, by Saint Januarius and the Kabbalah. What else could he do with his problems unresolved and postponed indefinitely?"

"At the top of all the saints in Naples is he, Saint Januarius of the blood. If Naples is a “city of blood,” an “ir haddammìm” as we read in the sacred stories about Nineveh and Jerusalem, it is thanks to him. [...] He, Saint Gennaro of the blood, known in the dialect as simply “sangennà,” is the fertility of the sacred in the middle of the Gulf of Naples, the menstruation of the sky that must flow and give power to women, to the soil, to the sea, to the red sauce of tomatoes and fish that makes up the soup of our own blood."

"I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius..."

"Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:"

"Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized."

"[July 20] In Antioch in Pisidia (Asia Minor), commemoration of St. Marina (or Margaret), who is said to have consecrated her body to Christ in virginity and martyrdom."

"(To the governor who asked for her hand in marriage) Can you expect me to renounce heaven and choose instead the dust of the earth?"

"Mr. John Rogers, minister of the gospel in London, was the first martyr in Queen Mary's reign, and was burnt at Smithfield, February 14, 1554.—His wife, with nine small children, and one at her breast, followed him to the stake, with which sorrowful sight he was not in the least daunted, but with wonderful patience died courageously for the gospel of Jesus Christ."

"Her husband had slipped a gold ring set with a fine ruby onto her finger, and her mother-in-law had given her a birth bag which, in her time, she herself had tied to her thigh for the duration of her pregnancy. “It contains a parchment recounting the birth of Margaret of Antioch. It will protect you from a brutal death, just as it protected me.” Swallowed by a dragon, Margaret of Antioch had escaped from the beast's bowels by piercing its spine with her cross. My son, Hades had thought, will not have to resort to violence to come into the world. At the right moment, I will open wide and he will slide out without pain. He will be born with rosy skin and a healthy complexion."

"[January 21] Memorial of St. Agnes, virgin and martyr, who, while still a girl in Rome, offered the supreme testimony of faith and consecrated the virtue of chastity with martyrdom; in fact, she overcame both her young age and the tyranny of the tyrant and thus acquired great admiration among the people, obtaining even greater glory with God. On this day, we celebrate the deposition of her mortal remains."

"Then, when she was beheaded, milk flowed from her body instead of blood. The angels took her body and carried it from that place to Mount Sinai, a journey of more than twenty days, and there they buried her with full honors. From her bones flows an oil that heals the limbs of all the sick. Her passion took place under the tyrant Maxentius or Maximinus, who ascended the throne around 310. How Maximinus was punished for this crime, and for many others, can be read in the story of the Invention of the Holy Cross."

"John Rogers was educated at Cambridge, and was afterward many years chaplain to the merchant adventurers at Antwerp in Brabant. Here he met with the celebrated martyr William Tyndale, and Miles Coverdale, both voluntary exiles from their country for their aversion to popish superstition and idolatry. They were the instruments of his conversion; and he united with them in that translation of the Bible into English, entitled "The Translation of Thomas Matthew." From the Scriptures he knew that unlawful vows may be lawfully broken; hence he married, and removed to Wittenberg in Saxony, for the improvement of learning; and he there learned the Dutch language, and received the charge of a congregation, which he faithfully executed for many years. On King Edward's accession, he left Saxony to promote the work of reformation in England; and, after some time, Nicholas Ridley, then bishop of London, gave him a prebend in St. Paul's Cathedral, and the dean and chapter appointed him reader of the divinity lesson there. Here he continued until Queen Mary's succession to the throne, when the Gospel and true religion were banished, and the Antichrist of Rome, with his superstition and idolatry, introduced.The circumstance of Mr. Rogers having preached at Paul's cross, after Queen Mary arrived at the Tower, has been already stated. He confirmed in his sermon the true doctrine taught in King Edward's time, and exhorted the people to beware of the pestilence of popery, idolatry, and superstition. For this he was called to account, but so ably defended himself that, for that time, he was dismissed. The proclamation of the queen, however, to prohibit true preaching, gave his enemies a new handle against him. Hence he was again summoned before the council, and commanded to keep to his house. He did so, though he might have escaped; and though he perceived the state of the true religion to be desperate. He knew he could not want a living in Germany; and he could not forget a wife and ten children, and to seek means to succor them. But all these things were insufficient to induce him to depart, and, when once called to answer in Christ's cause, he stoutly defended it, and hazarded his life for that purpose.After long imprisonment in his own house, the restless Bonner, bishop of London, caused him to be committed to Newgate, there to be lodged among thieves and murderers.After Mr. Rogers had been long and straitly imprisoned, and lodged in Newgate among thieves, often examined, and very uncharitably entreated, and at length unjustly and most cruelly condemned by Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, the fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord 1555, being Monday in the morning, he was suddenly warned by the keeper of Newgate's wife, to prepare himself for the fire; who, being then sound asleep, could scarce be awaked. At length being raised and awaked, and bid to make haste, then said he, "If it be so, I need not tie my points." And so was had down, first to bishop Bonner to be degraded: which being done, he craved of Bonner but one petition; and Bonner asked what that should be. Mr. Rogers replied that he might speak a few words with his wife before his burning, but that could not be obtained of him.When the time came that he should be brought out of Newgate to Smithfield, the place of his execution, Mr. Woodroofe, one of the sheriffs, first came to Mr. Rogers, and asked him if he would revoke his abominable doctrine, and the evil opinion of the Sacrament of the altar. Mr. Rogers answered, "That which I have preached I will seal with my blood." Then Mr. Woodroofe said, "Thou art an heretic." "That shall be known," quoth Mr. Rogers, "at the Day of Judgment." "Well," said Mr. Woodroofe, "I will never pray for thee." "But I will pray for you," said Mr. Rogers; and so was brought the same day, the fourth of February, by the sheriffs, towards Smithfield, saying the Psalm Miserere by the way, all the people wonderfully rejoicing at his constancy; with great praises and thanks to God for the same. And there in the presence of Mr. Rochester, comptroller of the queen's household, Sir Richard Southwell, both the sheriffs, and a great number of people, he was burnt to ashes, washing his hands in the flame as he was burning. A little before his burning, his pardon was brought, if he would have recanted; but he utterly refused it. He was the first martyr of all the blessed company that suffered in Queen Mary's time that gave the first adventure upon the fire. His wife and children, being eleven in number, ten able to go, and one sucking at her breast, met him by the way, as he went towards Smithfield. This sorrowful sight of his own flesh and blood could nothing move him, but that he constantly and cheerfully took his death with wonderful patience, in the defence and quarrel of the Gospel of Christ."

"Almachio then had her taken back to his house and ordered that she be burned by keeping her in a boiling bath night and day. Cecilia remained there as if it were a cold place, and did not even break a sweat. When this was reported to Almachio, he ordered that her head be cut off in the bath. The executioner struck her three times, but failed to sever her head; however, since the law forbade the condemned person from being struck four times, the executioner, covered in blood, left her dying. She lived for three more days, during which she gave all her possessions to the poor and entrusted to Urban all those she had converted to the faith, saying to him: “I have obtained a three-day reprieve for myself, so that I may entrust myself to your blessedness and so that you may consecrate my house as a church.”"

"“May Saint Lucy preserve your sight”, the Neapolitan beggar has been repeating for centuries, holding out his hand on street corners, and with that phrase he gives the exact measure of the importance attached in Naples to the “faculty of sight”, a primary good that constitutes the extreme wealth of the poor and the ultimate health of the sick."

"Agnese, a young woman full of wisdom, as Ambrogio tells us in his “Passione,” left death behind and found life at the age of thirteen. Her young age was evident, but the maturity of her mind was extraordinary: young in body, but mature in soul, beautiful in appearance but even more beautiful in faith. It happened that while she was returning from school, the prefect's son fell in love with her. He promised her endless jewels and riches if she agreed to marry him. Agnes replied: "Stay away from me, get out of sin, food of evil deeds, nourishment of death! Another loved me before you."

"[13 December] Memorial of Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr, who, while she lived, kept the lamp lit for her coming Bridegroom, and once she was put to death for Christ, she merited to be wedded to Him, thus possessing the Light that never goes out."

"Then the prefect had her stripped and taken to the brothel. But the Lord made Agnes' hair so thick that it covered her better than a dress, and when she entered that vile place, she found the angel of the Lord waiting for her, who illuminated the room with a shining light and prepared a pure white stole for her. Thus the place of sin became a place of prayer, so much so that Agnes came out purer than when she had entered, when that great light had honored her."

"‘However bad things may go for you, at least may your eyes be spared,’ the beggar wishes, invoking Saint Lucy, patron saint of the eyes."

"(To the Roman emperor) Why do you want to lose this crowd with the worship of gods? Learn about God, Creator of the world, and His only Son Jesus Christ, who freed humanity from hell with the cross!"

"Cecilia, an illustrious virgin, born of noble Roman lineage, was raised from the cradle in the faith of Christ. She always carried the image of Christ hidden in her bosom, and never ceased to pray day or night, asking God to preserve her virginity. Having been promised in marriage to a young man named Valeriano, and the wedding day having already been set, Cecilia wore a hair shirt next to her skin, while above it she wore her gold-woven garments. While the choirs sang, she sang alone, to herself, only for the Lord, saying: “Lord, may my heart and my body remain immaculate, so that I may not be confused at the Judgment.”"

"Lucia, nimica di ciascun crudele"

"Lucia, a noble maiden from Syracuse, hearing talk throughout Sicily of the fame of Saint Agatha, went to her tomb with her mother Euticia, who had been suffering from blood loss for four years and whom the doctors had been unable to cure. It so happened that during the celebration of Mass that day, the passage from the Gospel was read in which it is said that the Lord healed a woman from that same illness. Lucia then said to her mother: ‘If you believe what has been read, believe that Agatha always has beside her the one for whom she suffered martyrdom. Therefore, if you touch her tomb with faith, you will immediately regain your health.’"

"Saint Lucy, condemned to work in a brothel, preferred to face the stake, which left her unharmed; and in Naples, more than one Filumena Marturano, who took to the streets to escape the oppressive heat of a basement flat, imagines harmless blackmailing flames. It is almost surprising that such a saint was born in Syracuse and not at the foot of Vesuvius."

"Saint Lucy is, from a strictly historical point of view, the place where the city of Naples was born."

"In Rome, in the cemetery of Callixtus on the Appian Way, memory of St. Cecilia, virgin and martyr, who, as tradition has it, achieved this double palm for the love of Christ, and to whose name the ancient church of Trastevere is dedicated."

"(Last words) The Lord in his holy knowledge clearly realizes that although I could have escaped death, not only am I enduring terrible sufferings in my body from this scourging, but in my soul I am gladly accepting these torments because of my awe of him."

"(To those who advised him, in order to avoid martyrdom, to pretend to eat the pork imposed by the king) At this stage of my life it would be terribly wrong to be a party to such a pretense,” he said, “for many young people would be led to believe that at the age of ninety Eleazar had conformed to a foreign practice. If I should engage in deceit for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they would be led astray by me, while I would bring defilement and disgrace on my old age. For the moment I would avoid the punishment of mortals, but alive or dead I shall never escape the hands of the Almighty. Therefore, by bravely forfeiting my life now, I shall prove myself worthy of my old age."

"Eleazar, one of the foremost teachers of the law, a man of advanced age and distinguished appearance, was being forced to open his mouth to eat pork. But he, preferring death with honor rather than a life marked by defilement, spat it out and voluntarily went up to the torture rack..."

"Let no one despise your youth [...] Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the eldership."

"But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, persecutions, afflictions [...] But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."

"For this reason I have sent Timothy to you, who is my beloved and faithful son in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ, as I teach everywhere in every church."

"And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia."

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,"

"But I trust in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, that I also may be encouraged when I know your state. For I have no one like-minded, who will sincerely care for your state. For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus."

"Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy,"

"The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house."

"But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may comfort your hearts."

"Then he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a certain Jewish woman who believed, but his father was Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren who were at Lystra and Iconium. Paul wanted to have him go on with him. And he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in that region, for they all knew that his father was Greek."