Father Jose Maria Montiu de Nuix, who has a Doctorate in Philosophy, offers this article entitled “The Heroic Fortitude of the Martyrs,” in which he explains how the example of those that gave their life, so as not to betray their religious principle, helps today’s Christians to remain faithful to the truth and to morality.
* * *
Great men remain firm in the truth. We can exemplify this with Saint Francis de Sales’ saying: if you take away one of my eyes, I have the other to look at you with love, and if you take away both, a still have my heart to love you. When trampled on, violet perfumes and embraces sweetly the foot that stepped on it.
A Catholic martyr, a beautiful imitation of Him who came into the world to give witness of the truth, remains firm in the truth. His witness is manifestly sincere, supreme, and extremely eloquent. He gives all with admirable heroic fortitude so as not to betray his definitive, holy religious principles, and the latter can never be broken.
Martyrs are not stopped by beasts, or fire, or horrendous hatred, or the worst discrediting. They let themselves be burnt alive, decapitated, crucified, quartered, etc., all that to remain faithful. They prefer to be torn apart by lions rather than give up the holy Catholic Faith. “Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become Christ’s pure bread” (Saint Ignatius of Antioch).
A Catholic martyr is a person that has been killed out of hatred for the faith that he professes and who, in addition, has given his life out of love for God and others. Hence his is a wounded and ardent heart. Martyrdom often includes many, great sufferings. There must have been many millions of martyrs, a great sea of beauty made of purple blood!
The current times are fierce times. So the dark mist and hail of strong pressures fall on many people, attempting to incline them to evil. For example, doctors pressured so that they won’t express conscientious objection, and do away with others’ lives, by abortion, euthanasia or assisted suicide. There are also pressures oriented to making one give up one’s Catholic faith.
From pressures, one can pass to a rarefied environment. In the latter, there can be, perhaps, indecision, cowardice, temptations to cheat, or a pact with evil. Psychologically, however, when one meets in life a courageous witness, healthily contagious, the rarefied environment gives way for the lung to breathe pure air again, for the Sun to shine again, dissipating the darkness, and then one realizes that one can respond with a decidedly good attitude. One can be courageous!
The martyrs, in particular, have an especially providential value for these difficult present times. In fact, one of the most beautiful things to be most grateful for, of the three last Vicars of Christ, is their having declared so many martyrs Blesseds or Saints. The great fortitude of the martyrs is now very providential. They are courageous models of fortitude, splendid rubies, which attract and stimulate us to imitate them. Hence they are a most precious help not to succumb to the strong pressures oriented to evil.
Useful is the following rule of three of them: yes, for being faithful they had the great nobility to suffer great losses — to lose everything and to suffer so much –, then it would be absurd and shameful to give up on the truth in order to avoid very inferior losses. If they were able with what was more suffering we can too with what is less suffering.
In particular, a doctor pressured to cause an abortion, will be impelled to express conscientious objection, even if it leads to his being regarded badly or losing his job. So, also, anyone who is pressured to give up his Catholic faith will be driven to be faithful, and not compromise. In face of the courageous grandeur of the martyrs, neither should one think of lowdown arrangements, such as cheating or pact with evil.
Moreover, there is the powerful intercession of the martyrs. The martyrs have given all. Therefore, without a doubt, from their heavenly glory, they are willing to help us to avoid evil and do good.
In short, it must not be forgotten that, in the difficult and exciting present times, the model example of the martyrs is something very important, in order to be faithful to the truth and to morality. One can be brave! One can be faithful to the eternal truth!
Translation by Virginia M. Forrester
