Showing posts with label Church Fathers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Church Fathers. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Martyrdom — The Same Then and Now

Main Entry: 1mar·tyr
Pronunciation: \ˈmär-tər\
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English, from Late Latin, from Greek martyr-, martys witness
Date: before 12th century

1 : a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion
2 : a person who sacrifices something of great value and especially life itself for the sake of principle
3 : victim; especially : a great or constant sufferer
In discussing Mike Aquilina's Father's of the Church over the last two months, our Catholic women's book club has come back repeatedly to the subject of martyrdom.

Partly the issue has been clouded by the new awareness of Muslim martyrs in our lives. This has led to several talks clarifying the difference between Christian and Muslim martyrs. If only we had thought to go to the dictionary. I believe that the first definition perfectly speaks to the Christian model. The second definition also applies to Christian martyrdom and is stretched in an extreme fashion by some Muslims for their own faith. That distinction is vital. A true Christian martyr does not attack others. They are witnesses to their faith, not inflicting it on others, such as those very misguided people who bomb abortion clinics which is very unChristian behavior indeed.

This naturally led to discussion of whether it is better to stand or to run, prompted by St. Cyprian's example, who having weighed martyrdom versus leading his flock from hiding chose to flee. He is a saint and a father of the church, but his example also led to great division among the priests and faithful under his care.

The question that example raised is that if God is always on the side of life, would He want people embracing martyrdom of the "lions in the arena" type, which seemed an unhealthy thing to seek out.

This also brought up discussion of St. Stephen, the first martyr, who was stoned to death. My personal view of St. Stephen is that an integral part of his personality and youth was his great enthusiasm for the truth of Christ. I can see that, again in my own imaginings, he was proclaiming the truth to all as a knight would defend his king. This view was not embraced by all present but I happen to know a number of teenage boys. To me, this fits. I do not think he sought it out or that most martyrs sought it out. It happened because of circumstances, personality, and the necessity of telling the truth.

I, myself, as one might expect, tend to go for the model that does not seek out martyrdom but does not run away either.

In the end, we came down to two exemplars who actually embody both of the qualities we found necessary. One is that no one should deliberately seek to throw their life away. The second is that when put to the test, one must witness for truth.

One such example is St. Thomas More. He wriggled this way and that to avoid having to come down to a final confrontation with Henry VIII. However, when it was unavoidable, he did not run or move his family to France which he easily could have done. He stayed where he was, continuing to do the best he could under the circumstances, and did not shirk the direct witness he was called to give. He paid with his life.

Another such example, and the one that prompted the entire discussion, was St. Perpetua. There are a few "mothers" of the church included in the end of the book and she is one. An educated noblewoman and recent convert in Carthage around 200 AD, she was arrested, imprisoned, and killed. Adding to the strain was the fact that she was a new mother and naturally very worried about her infant who eventually was smuggled to her in the prison for a time. She wrote an account of her martyrdom. In it is her witness to her pagan father, her love and anxiety over her babe, and a vision she had. I found her vision to be very heartening because it so clearly showed God's grace under such terrible circumstances and that if we are willing to stand and do our part, that He gives the strength for the rest.
"Then my brother said to me: 'Lady sister, you are now in great honor-so great that you may well pray for a vision in which you may be shown whether suffering or release be in store for you.'

And I, knowing myself to have speech of the Lord for whose sake I was suffering, confidently promised, 'Tomorrow I will brig you word.'

And I made petition and this was shown me. I saw a golden ladder of wonderful length reaching up to heaven, but so narrow that only one at a a time could go up; and on the sides of the ladder were fastened all kinds or iron weapons. And at the foot of the ladder was a huge dragon or 'serpent' which lay in wait for those going up and sought to frighten them from making the ascent.

Now the first to go up was Saturus, who had given himself up of his own accord for our sakes, because our faith was of his own building and he had not been present when we were arrested. He reached the top of the ladder, and turning, said to me, 'Perpetua, I wait for you, but take care lest the dragon bite you,' and I said, 'In the name of Jesus Christ, he will not hurt me.'

And the dragon put out his head gently, as if afraid of me, just at the foot of the ladder; and as though I were treading on the first step, I trod on his head. And I went up and saw a large garden, and sitting in the midst a tall man with white hair in the dress of a shepherd, milking sheep; and round about were many thousands clad in white. And he raised his head and looked upon me and said, 'Welcome, child.' And he called me and gave me some curds of the milk he was milking, and I received it in my joined hands and ate; and all that were round about said Amen. At the sound of the word I awoke, still eating something sweet.

And at once I told my brother, and we understood that we must suffer and henceforth began to have no hope in this world.
Note that neither of these two sought out martyrdom. Indeed, they had everything to live for in this world. However, when it came down to witnessing to the truth, they could not deny it. Very important to my mind, is that dragon curled around the bottom of the ladder. Dragons or serpents are often imagery for Satan and I can imagine that the temptation to turn aside from offering a true witness may be our natural fears but also could be very strongly pushed from this source.

Mulling all this over this morning, it came to me that the one essential point we had not boiled it down to was the word "witness." Martyrs are witnesses to the truth. Whether the sort of witness we are likely to encounter in dealing with people in everyday life or the more final sort that people face all the time in other countries (there have been more Christians martyrs in the 20th century than in all previous centuries combined or so I have heard ... anyone got facts on that?), we are called to be witnesses and not run away from witnessing what is true. Each of us must weigh what that means in each situation, as with all things, and also in our relationship with God.

I thought at that point to look at the dictionary. Aha.
from Greek martyr-, martys witness
How you are called upon to witness is individual to each of us. Whether we choose to stand or run is also individual and in most cases no one will ever know. Except us. And God.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

A Treasure Chest of Ancient Wisdom

Praying the Psalms with the Early Christians
Ancient Songs for Modern Hearts
All the books of Scripture, both Old Testament and New, are inspired by God and useful for instruction, as the apostle says (see 2 Timothy 3:16); but to those who really study it, the Psalter yields special treasure. ... for I think that in the words of this book all human life is covered, with all its states and thoughts, and that nothing further can be found in man. For no matter what you seek, whether it be repentance and confession, or help in trouble and temptation or under persecution, whether you have been set free from plots and snares or, on the contrary, are sad for any reason, or whether, seeing yourself progressing and your enemy cast down, you want to praise and thank and bless the Lord, each of these things the divine psalms show you how to do, and in every case the words you want are written down for you, and you can say them as your own.
St. Athanasius, Letter to Marcellinus
The Book of Psalms has been the prayer book and hymnal of God's people for three thousand years. Christians came to see the psalms as the prayers of Christ, to Christ, and about Christ. Mike Aquilina and Chris Bailey remind us of this. They also have a plan to help us replace the latest meaningless jingle running around our brains with the psalms.

Thirty-four psalms have been chosen as examples to help us learn how to pray, learn, and understand these ancient prayers anew as Christ's voice speaking to us. As always with these two authors, who I admit are among my favorites, the writing speaks simply and directly to our lives, our faith, and to giving us a tool to improve our relationship with God. They are masters at helping us see how the Church Fathers' wisdom still applies to our modern lives. Combining the Fathers with the psalms is a master stroke toward helping us better understand and use these timeless prayers daily.

My one quibble with this book is that I do not agree that there isn't room to include all the psalms. I tend to believe this is a restriction that was set by the publisher. This book is either the good beginning point for a series of books or a brief volume that should have been larger to contain all the psalms. Yes, it shows us how to begin to examine the psalms better. No, it doesn't suffice for our needs as very few people are going to take the trouble to see how Church Fathers have commented on psalms not included for our use. However, that said, this is an excellent resource and you shouldn't let the lack of all the psalms stop you from getting it.

I am going to begin using this as a morning devotional and as a starting point to begin fulfilling a long-held goal to try to memorize parts of my favorite psalms. I'd describe more about the book but think that you will get the flavor better from seeing how they treat a psalm. Here is an excerpt of this highly recommended book. Enjoy!
Psalm 131

David reminds us that humility—even in a king—is the proper attitude before God.

[For this psalm we use Challoner’s revision of the Douay-Rheims Bible, because St. Hilary’s exposition depends on a slightly different translation from the one found in the Revised Standard Version.]
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A gradual canticle of David.
Lord, my heart is not exalted:
nor are my eyes lofty.
Neither have I walked in great matters,
nor in wonderful things above me.
If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul:
As a child that is weaned is toward his mother,
so reward in my soul.

Let Israel hope in the Lord,
from henceforth now and for ever.

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Words to Remember
Lord, my heart is not exalted:
nor are my eyes lofty.
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“Strike a Middle Course”
From this short psalm, St. Hilary of Poitiers, a bishop who came from a noble and wealthy family, spins a lesson in humility. Humility by itself is not enough: though we are humble, we must dare to let our souls reach up to what is most exalted.

“O Lord, my heart is not exalted, neither have my eyes been lifted up.”

This psalm, a short one, teaches us the lesson of humility and meekness. . . . Of course we are bound to bear in mind in how great need our faith stands of humility when we hear the prophet thus speaking of it as equivalent to the performance of the highest works: “O Lord, my heart is not exalted.” For a troubled heart is the noblest sacrifice in the eyes of God. The heart, therefore, must not be lifted up by prosperity, but humbly kept within the bounds of meekness through the fear of God.

“Neither have my eyes been lifted up.” The strict sense of the Greek here conveys a different meaning: “have not been lifted up” from one object to look on another. Yet the eyes must be lifted up in obedience to the prophet’s words: “Lift up your eyes and see who has displayed all these things” (see Isaiah 40:26). And the Lord says in the gospel, “Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are white unto harvest” (see John 4:35). The eyes, then, are to be lifted up: not, however, to transfer their gaze elsewhere, but to remain fixed once for all upon that to which they have been raised.

Then follows: “Neither have I walked amid great things, nor amid wonderful things that are above me.” It is most dangerous to walk amid mean things and not to linger amid wonderful things. God’s utterances are great; he himself is wonderful in the highest: how then can the psalmist pride himself as on a good work for not walking amid great and wonderful things?

It is the addition of the words “that are above me” that shows that the walking is not amid those things which men commonly regard as great and wonderful. For David, prophet and king as he was, once was humble and despised and unworthy to sit at his father’s table; but he found favor with God, he was anointed to be king, he was inspired to prophesy. His kingdom did not make him haughty; he was not moved by hatreds: he loved those that persecuted him, he paid honor to his dead enemies, he spared his incestuous and murderous children. In his capacity of sovereign, he was despised; in that of father he was wounded; in that of prophet he was afflicted; yet he did not call for vengeance as a prophet might, nor exact punishment as a father, nor requite insults as a sovereign. And so he did not walk amid things great and wonderful which were above him.

Let us see what comes next: “If I was not humbly minded but have lifted up my soul.”

What inconsistency on the prophet’s part! He does not lift up his heart: he does lift up his soul. He does not walk amid things great and wonderful that are above him, yet his thoughts are not mean. He is exalted in mind and cast down in heart. He is humble in his own affairs, but he is not humble in his thought.

For his thought reaches to heaven; his soul is lifted up on high. But his heart, out of which proceed, according to the gospel, evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, and railings (see Matthew 15:19), is humble, pressed down beneath the gentle yoke of meekness.

We must strike a middle course, then, between humility and exaltation, so that we may be humble in heart but lifted up in soul and thought.

Then he goes on: “Like a weaned child upon his mother’s breast, so will you reward my soul.”

We are told that when Isaac was weaned, Abraham made a feast because, now that he was weaned, he was on the verge of boyhood and was passing beyond milk food. The apostle feeds all that are imperfect in the faith and still babes in the things of God with the milk of knowledge. Thus, to cease to need milk marks the greatest possible advance. Abraham proclaimed by a joyful feast that his son had come to stronger meat, and the apostle refuses bread to the carnal minded and those that are babes in Christ.

And so the prophet prays that God, because he has not lifted up his heart, nor walked amid things great and wonderful that are above him, because he has not been humble minded but did lift up his soul, may reward his soul, lying like a weaned child upon his mother: that is to say, that he may be deemed worthy of the reward of the perfect, heavenly, and living bread, on the grounds that by reason of his works already recorded, he has now passed beyond the stage of milk.

But he does not demand this living bread from heaven for himself alone; he encourages all mankind to hope for it by saying, “Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth and forevermore.” He sets no temporal limit to our hope; he bids our faithful expectation stretch out into infinity. We are to hope forever and ever, winning the hope of future life through the hope of our present life which we have in Christ Jesus our Lord, who is blessed forever and ever. Amen.

—St. Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms

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Questions to Think About
  1. Am I ever tempted to look down on anyone else? How would the truth of who I am before God help me to overcome this temptation?

  2. How can I better remember to focus my attention on heaven rather than on earthly glories?
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Thursday, June 29, 2006

I Think That's Called Enabling an Addict

MARIA LECTRIX
Six days a week of public domain audiobooks — mystery, history, adventure, devotion — for people with Catholic tastes.

Maureen's audiobook recordings include Church Fathers, sci fi, mysteries, essays, novels ... and most of them I've never even heard of. Can't wait to start downloading these babies ... long may my knitting flourish while listening!

Update
I see that by following her sidebar link to RSS feed you can get to a spot where a mere click of the button gets you subscribed through iTunes. Sweet!