Collect taken from the memorial of the First Martyrs of Rome.
Collect: O God, who consecrated the abundant first fruits of the Roman Church by the blood of the Martyrs, grant, we pray, that with firm courage we may together draw strength from so great a struggle and ever rejoice at the triumph of faithful love. Through our Lord Jesus Christ…
“O God, who consecrated the abundant first fruits of the Roman Church by the blood of the Martyrs,”
– The first fruits of the Roman Church are the converts to Christianity. But, just as Christ completed his ministry through his passion and death, so the Church always faces some form of persecution and martyrdom – this is a participation in Christ’s own passion and a “consecration” of her efforts.
“grant, we pray, that with firm courage we may together draw strength from so great a struggle and ever rejoice at the triumph of faithful love.”
– We ask for strength not only because of their example but also because their martyrdom wins grace for the rest of us. Christians can and should offer their suffering and death for the holiness and strength of the whole Church. Because of the Cross, we do not mourn their death so much as rejoice that, through this death, the early Roman Christian were victorious over sin and so benefited the whole Church.
Questions & Advice: Do you really believe that martyrdom is a good thing? Have you ever reflected on the possibility of being martyred yourself? Have you allowed a kind of worldly compromise to sneak into your view of the Church or do you embrace the radical call which sees conflict and suffering as inevitable, but redemptive?
Read about the communion of saints and the love of Martyrs in the Catechism (957). Spend some of your daily prayer time reflecting on your attitude toward martyrdom. Pray to God specifically for the grace to remain faithful until death, even if that should include martyrdom.
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| Sancti Martyres, orate pro nobis! |