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Christian martyrs who suffered in the East since the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks (1862). Martyr of Christ from next door

The first martyrs for Christ can be considered about two thousand Bethlehem babies, killed by order of King Herod of the Jews. When Jesus Christ was born, people came to Judea with a revelation of the birth of the Messiah. They came to King Herod and told about this, asking King Christ. Herod thought that Jesus would be the kind of king who would overthrow the current ruler from the throne. He inquired from the Magi about where Christ was to be born. Having received information about the city of Bethlehem, Herod, because of his anger and fear, sent soldiers there with the goal 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 wise men told about the king’s intentions. Mother of God, the elder Joseph and the baby Jesus fled to Egypt.

First Martyr Archdeacon Stephen

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 Apostles, written by Luke, tells the story of the death of the saint. The teachers of the law stoned him for their faith in Christ. A certain Saul took part in the murder of the saint, who then himself turned to Christ and became known to the whole world under the name of the holy Supreme Apostle Paul. The archdeacon was killed approximately in the fourth decade of Christ. His memory Orthodox Church takes place 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.

Today Christians accept martyrdom, confessing the name of Christ, just as they did in the first centuries of Christianity. We see this especially clearly in the Middle East, where terrorist organizations of radical Islamists are rampant. Parents lose children, children lose parents, husbands lose wives, wives lose husbands. In February 2015, a video of the execution of 21 Christians, published by the ISIS media service, appeared on the Internet...
But, enduring the grief of loss loved one, the relatives of those killed by terrorists for the name of Christ do not regret the choice made by the martyrs. This is how Muna Ibrahim speaks about the martyrdom of his twenty-two-year-old son, executed in Libya along with twenty Egyptian Christians: “I do not mourn: my son is a martyr for Christ... I pray that our Lord will touch the hearts of the murderers, so that they will not places in hell. Thanks to them!” When Kirill decided to go to work in Libya, his mother tried to dissuade him, fearing the danger in this region, but she could not dissuade him. And today, looking at a photograph of her son, she smiles, because her son is a martyr for Christ. "Death! where is your sting? hell! “Where is your victory?” I want to exclaim, looking at her face.
I agree with this strong woman and Bashir Kamil, whose brothers Bishwa and Samuel were also killed by Islamists. In his words, love for Christ overcomes grief from the loss of relatives: “Thank you to those who captured their last testimony of Christ as it was... We, the relatives of the martyrs, do not become despondent, but congratulate each other on their crown. They are the light of Christianity. We pray for the murderers, we ask God to open their eyes and save them!”
In the words of those who have lost loved ones, we also see a prayer to the Lord for the souls of the murderers; they do not hate them, they feel sorry for them.
And we? How do we feel when we look at the confessional death of Christians and Copts in the Middle East? Perhaps remorse, because we, who call ourselves Christians, are we capable of martyrdom? Perhaps we should think about this.
The video of the execution, which Islamists distributed online, shows that the doomed accept death for Christ with some kind of inner dignity. None of them wavered, no one regretted their earthly life. Here, brought to their knees, they pray - “Lord, have mercy,” their lips move. No weakness in faith, no plea for mercy, no reproach to God... Christians are dying. Not special ascetics, not clergy, not monks, but ordinary people, workers who came to different years to work in Libya.
They did not leave this country at the first danger; they could not leave their relatives without a livelihood. Here they could somehow earn money.
And by December they, ordinary workers, began to be persecuted.
Some of them knew each other since childhood. Someone met right here, in Libya. The oldest of those executed was 45 years old, the youngest was 22 years old.
These are just people. The Lord chose them so that we would be right out of our own comfortable apartments We looked into the eyes of their dying courage: can we do it if they come for us? Will we resist? The price of the question is the price of faith: if you accept another, you will save your life. They chose Christ.
The executed Hani Abd al-Masih left four children. According to his wife Magda, he was very devout. Her husband desperately wanted to return home, he was sick and tired of the constant threat of kidnapping, but, unlike native village, in Libya he could earn at least some money to feed Magda and his four children. Shortly before his execution, he decided to return home to his family.
“I miss him,” Magda cries. Her children are sitting next to her. The older girl is also crying. “Your father, he’s in Heaven,” says one of the relatives, consoling her, “he’s in Heaven.”
Today, the village where she and the families of 14 other martyrs live is named after her husband and those who shared his suffering for Christ: the governor of El Minya, Salah Ziyada, decided to rename settlement to Qaryat al-Shuhadaʼ - Village of Martyrs.
By decision of the Coptic Church, the names of the Libyan new martyrs were included in the General Church Synaxarion
The feat of these Christians today amazed even the most “lukewarm” souls, reminding us of the true price of confessing God in word and deed. This feat does not need unnecessary comments or elegies - it only needs memory. Everlasting memory.
Eternal memory to the Martyrs who ended their earthly journey on the coast Mediterranean Sea near the city of Sirte. Here are their names: Majid Sulaiman Shahatah, Theodore Yusuf Theodore, Hani Abd al-Masih Salib, Milad Makin Zakiy, Samuel Alham Walasan, Malak Ibrahim Sanyut, Malak Faraj Ibrahim, Uzzat Bushra Nasif, Yusuf Shukri Yunan, Abanub Ayyad Atiyya, Bishwa Stefan Kamil , his brother Samuel Stefan Kamil, Kirill Bushra Fauzi, Jurjus Milad Sanyyut, Mina Sayyid Aziz (23 years old), Bishavi Adil Khalaf, Luka Najati, Jabir Munir Adili, Isam Bidar Samir, Samih Salah Farouk and a man whom the Egyptian police have not identified managed.

Christ warned His disciples: If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you too(John 15:20). Beginning with the first Christian martyr, Deacon Stephen, a person who suffered for Christ was perceived by the Church as an imitator of the Savior’s sacrifice on the cross. At first, the disciples of Christ in Jerusalem were persecuted by the Jewish leaders. In the pagan areas of the Roman Empire, Christians were also oppressed, although there was no state persecution yet. The Apostle Paul, who himself suffered imprisonment and beatings more than once, wrote to the Christians of the Macedonian city of Philippi: for the sake of Christ it has been given to you not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him(Phil 1:29). To another Macedonian Church he wrote (52-53): you, brothers, have become imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus, which are in Judea, because you also suffered the same things from your fellow tribesmen as those from the Jews(Thess 2:14).

Persecution of the Church in the Roman Empire

The persecution of Christians by the state, monstrous in its cruelty, began in Rome in 64 under the emperor Nerone. During this persecution, the apostles Paul and Peter and many other martyrs were executed. After the death of Nero in 68, the persecution of Christians temporarily ceased, but resumed under the emperors Domitian (81-96), and with particular force under Trajan (98-117). Under Domitian, the Apostle John the Theologian was tortured, but miraculously he survived. Evangelist John was the only one of the apostles of Christ who did not suffer martyrdom and died in old age. Under Emperor Trajan, the disciple of the Apostle John the Theologian, Saint, suffered Ignatius the God-Bearer. He was the bishop of Antioch and was sentenced to death by the claws and teeth of wild beasts in the arena. When the soldiers were taking him to Rome for execution, he wrote to the Roman Christians, asking them not to seek his release: “I beg you: do not show me untimely love. Leave me to be food for beasts and through them to reach God. I am the wheat of God: let the teeth of beasts crush me, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.”

The persecution continued. Emperor Hadrian (117-138) took measures to curb the fury of the crowd against Christians. The accused were to be subjected to trial and be punished only upon recognition of their guilt. But even under him and his successors, many Christians suffered. During his time, three girls were tortured, named after the main Christian virtues: Faith Hope Love. Vera, the eldest of them, was twelve years old, Nadezhda was ten, and Lyubov was nine. Their mother Sophia died three days later at their grave and is also glorified as a martyr.

The crowd hated Christians because they shunned and avoided pagan festivals, but gathered in secret. Those who did not belong to the Church were not allowed to attend Christian worship meetings, and the pagans suspected that heinous crimes were being committed at these meetings. Slander against Christians was passed from mouth to mouth. Christians who did not revere their native pagan deities were seen by the people as real atheists, and the pagan state saw Christians as dangerous rebels. In the Roman Empire, they calmly treated diverse and often exotic beliefs and cults, but at the same time, no matter what religion a person belonged to, it was required, according to domestic regulations, to honor the Roman gods, especially the emperor himself, who was deified. It was unthinkable for Christians, while worshiping the Creator of heaven and earth, to render Divine honors to creation. Some Christian writers addressed emperors with apologies(which means “justification”), letters in defense of the teachings of Christ. The most famous Christian apologist was a martyr Justin Philosopher, suffered in 165, during the reign of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.

In the first half of the 3rd century, the persecution of the Church weakened somewhat, until in 250 the emperor began persecuting Christians Decius. His persecution was particularly systematic and exceptional in scope. All citizens of the Roman Empire were required to sacrifice to idols and thereby testify to their trustworthiness for the state. Christians who refused to participate in these rituals were forced to participate in them through sophisticated torture. Those who made sacrifices to idols were released and given a special certificate. Christians have become unaccustomed to persecution over many years of peace. During the reign of Decius, many people, unable to withstand persecution, renounced Christ and made the required sacrifices. Some wealthy Christians, using their connections and influence, bought the required certificates, but did not make sacrifices themselves. At this time they suffered Bishop Fabian of Rome, Bishop of Babylon of Antioch, Bishop Alexander of Jerusalem.

At the end of 251, during the war with the Goths, Decius was killed. In 258, a new imperial decree followed, directed against church hierarchs. This year the saint suffered martyrdom Sixtus, Pope, with four deacons and a saint Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage.

From 260 to the beginning of the 4th century there was a break in the systematic persecution of Christians. The number of Christians in the empire grew steadily. But this temporary peace for the Church was interrupted in 303. The persecution of Christians began, which went down in history as Great persecution. It was started by the emperor Diocletian and his co-rulers, and it was continued by his successors until 313. These ten years gave the Church many martyrs, among whom were Saints George the Victorious, the warrior Theodore Tiron, Demetrius of Thessalonica, the healer Panteleimon, the martyrs Anastasia of Rome, Catherine of Alexandria.

Thousands of Christians died for their faith in Christ in the first three centuries - men, women, children, clergy, laity...

In 313 the emperor Constantine the Great published in the city Edict of Milan(decree) ending the persecution of Christians. Nevertheless, in the regions of the empire under the co-ruler of Constantine Licinius, executions and persecution of Christians continued. So, in 319 a martyr suffered Theodore Stratilates, in 320 under Sevastia were tortured forty Christian warriors. In 324, Emperor Constantine defeated Licinius, and the Edict of Milan on Tolerance was observed throughout the empire.

Freed from persecution and receiving the support of the emperor, the Church began to grow and strengthen.

Paganism, weakened internally and having outlived its usefulness by this time, quickly faded away. An attempt was made to restore it and resume the persecution of Christians in 362 Emperor Julian, who received the nickname Apostate for his rejection of Christianity. During the year and a half of his reign, many Christians were persecuted and executed. With the sudden death of Julian during the battle, the persecution of Christians ceased.

Church of the Martyrs

“From the first day of its existence, the Church was, is and will be a martyr. Suffering and persecution are the atmosphere of God for the Church in which it constantly lives. IN different times and this persecution could be different: sometimes obvious and open, sometimes hidden and treacherous,” wrote the Serbian theologian St. Justin (Popovich).

Until the 7th century, thousands of Christians suffered oppression and persecution in the Persian Empire. Many bishops and clergy, and even more ordinary lay men and women, received the crown of martyrdom. Many martyrs suffered in other pagan countries, for example in the Gothic lands.

The Arians persecuted the Orthodox with particular sophistication. Thus, in the 5th century in North Africa, sixty-two priests and three hundred laymen were killed by the Vandals who professed Arianism and seized these lands. The Monk Maximus the Confessor and his two disciples suffered from the Monothelite heretics.

Their right hands were cut off so that they could not write in defense of Orthodoxy, and all three were sent into exile, where they soon died. Iconoclast emperors carried out brutal persecution of the Orthodox. The monks, the courageous defenders, suffered especially these days Orthodox teaching about holy icons. The historian describes the abuse of the Orthodox under the iconoclast emperor Constantine V: “He killed many monks with blows of whips and even with a sword, and blinded countless numbers; some people coated their beards with wax and oil, turned on the fire and thus burned their faces and heads; others were sent into exile after many torments.” Suffered from this persecution Saint Nikephoros, Patriarch of Constantinople. To two brother monks Feofan And Theodora offensive verses were burned onto their faces (for this the brothers received the nickname Inscribed).

At the beginning of the 7th century, Islam arose in Arabia and rapidly conquered the Middle East and North Africa. Many Christian martyrs suffered from them. So, in 845 in Amorite They accepted death for refusing to renounce Christ forty-two martyrs.

The Georgian Church revealed a huge host of holy martyrs. Very often, invaders of other faiths came to Georgian land. In 1226, Georgia was attacked by an army of Khorezmians led by Khorezm Shah Jalal ad-Din. After Tbilisi (Tpilisi) was taken, the Shah drove all the townspeople to the bridge, on which he placed the holy icons. He offered freedom and generous gifts to those who renounce Christ and trample on holy icons. Then one hundred thousand Georgians testified their fidelity to Christ and accepted martyrdom. In 1615, he was martyred by the Persian Shah Abbas I monks of the David-Gareji Monastery.

The first saints revealed in our Russian Church were also martyrs - Our people were not yet enlightened by the faith of Christ and worshiped idols. The priests demanded that Theodore sacrifice his son John. Being a Christian, Theodore opposed this inhuman demand, and both father and son were killed. Their blood became the spiritual seed from which our Church grew.

Sometimes Christian missionaries, as well as their flock, whom they led to Christ, became martyrs. For two centuries (from the beginning of the 18th century) the activities of the Russian spiritual mission in China continued. In the very late XIX century, a nationalist uprising of the Yihetuan broke out in China. In 1900, the rebels reached the Chinese capital Beijing and began to burn the houses of Europeans and Chinese Christians. Several dozen people, under pain of torture, renounced their faith, but two hundred twenty-two Orthodox Chinese survived and were awarded the crown of martyrdom. The Cathedral of Chinese Martyrs is headed by Priest Mitrofan Ji, the first Chinese Orthodox priest ordained by Equal-to-the-Apostles Nicholas, the enlightener of Japan.

New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia

The most large-scale, systematic and mass persecution in the history of the Church of Christ happened not centuries ago, in ancient centuries, but in Russia in the twentieth century. In terms of the number of victims for Christ, the persecutions of the past century surpass both the Great Persecution of Diocletian and all other persecutions of Christians. In the very first weeks after the Bolsheviks came to power (October 25, 1917), blood flowed Orthodox priests. Archpriest became the first martyr of the opening persecutions Ioann Kochurov, served in Tsarskoye Selo (shot on October 31).

In January 1918, participants in the Local Council, held in Moscow, were shocked by the news that on January 25, at the walls of the Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the revered shepherd and hierarch was murdered Vladimir (Bogoyavlensky), Metropolitan of Kyiv. The members of the Council issued a definition: “To establish the offering in churches during divine services of special petitions for those who are now persecuted for Orthodox faith and the Church and the confessors and martyrs who have passed away their lives, and the annual prayerful commemoration on January 25 or the following Sunday of all the confessors and martyrs who have fallen asleep in this fierce time of persecution.” Then, at the beginning of 1918, the participants of the Council probably could not imagine how many confessors and martyrs would join this memorial list over the following years.

The host of new martyrs included a great many hierarchs and priests who participated in the Local Council of 1917-1918. The Council of New Martyrs and Confessors of Russia is headed by its chairman, Saint Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia.

In those years, a huge number of bishops, priests, monks and laity suffered. Among the hundreds of hierarchs who suffered in those years was Metropolitan Peter (Polyansky), who officially replaced the patriarchal throne after the death of Patriarch Tikhon (f1925), but was actually imprisoned and completely deprived of the opportunity to govern the Church; Veniamin (Kazansky), Metropolitan of Petrograd; Kirill (Smirnov), Metropolitan of Kazan; Hilarion (Troitsky), Archbishop of Verei.

The family of the last Russian sovereign occupies a special place in the Council of New Martyrs, Tsar Nicholas: Tsarina Alexandra and their children - Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexy, executed in Yekaterinburg on the night of July 17, 1918.

The authorities persecuted the Church not for political reasons. From 1933 to 1937, the so-called godless five-year plan took place, which, within the framework of national planning National economy set the goal of “finally eliminating the religious dope.” But the Church of Christ survived. In 1937, a state census was taken, during which a third of city residents and two-thirds of villagers declared themselves believers, convincingly indicating the failure of the atheist campaign. The materials of this census were prohibited for use, and many of those who carried it out were subjected to repression. When the results of the 1937 census were published in 1990, it became clear why they had been delayed for so long. It turned out that among illiterate Orthodox Christians, believers sixteen years of age and older accounted for 67.9%, among literate ones - 79.2%.

The bloodiest persecutions occurred in 1937-1939. During the Great Patriotic War There has been a slight weakening of the persecution of the Church. In 1943, after it became known that three thousand seven hundred and thirty-two churches had been opened in German-occupied territories (more than there were at that time throughout Soviet Russia), the authorities reconsidered their position. However, even during the war years, arrests and executions of priests continued. From mid-1948, state pressure on the Church increased again. Previously open churches were closed again, and many clergy were arrested. From 1951 to 1972, almost half of all churches in Russia were closed.

State pressure on the Church continued throughout the years of Soviet power.

IN modern world In some countries, real bloody persecution of Christians continues. Hundreds of Christians (including Orthodox Christians) are persecuted and executed every year. In some countries, the adoption of Christianity is punished by state legislation, and in some countries Christians are persecuted, humiliated and killed by aggressive citizens. Reasons for persecution and hatred of Christians in different centuries and in different countries They declare different things, but what remains common to all martyrs is their steadfastness and loyalty to the Lord.

Martyr(Greek μάρτυς, Lat. martyr), the most ancient host of saints glorified by the Church for the martyrdom they accepted for their faith.

Concept of martyrdom

The main meaning of the Greek. μάρτυς is “witness,” and in this sense the word can refer to the apostles as witnesses of the life and resurrection of Christ, who received the grace-filled gift of confessing the Divinity of Christ, the appearance of God the Word in the flesh and the advent of a new kingdom in which man is adopted as a son to God (cf. Acts. 2, 32). 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 testimony 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; thereby they testify to Christ’s victory over death and their adoption as sons of Christ, i.e. about the reality of the Kingdom of Heaven, which they achieved through martyrdom. In this sense, “martyrdom is a continuation of apostolic service in the world” (V.V. Bolotov). At the same time, martyrdom is following the path of Christ, repeating the passion and atoning sacrifice of Christ. Christ appears as the prototype of martyrdom, testimony with his own blood. Answering Pilate, He says: “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I came into the world, to testify (μάρτυρήσω) to the truth” (John 18:37). Hence the name of Christ as a witness (martyr) in the Apocalypse: “... from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness (μάρτυς), the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Rev. 1:5; cf. Rev. 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 condemned him, “looked up to heaven and 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 testifies to the Kingdom of Heaven, which opened for him during and as a result of martyrdom. Martyrdom itself resembles the passion of Christ. When Stephen was stoned, he “exclaimed with a loud voice: Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And having said this, he rested” (Acts 7:60). Words of forgiveness realize the example 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.

IN early period It is martyrdom that most of all contributes to the spread of the Church, and in this regard it also acts as a continuation of the apostolic ministry. The first spread of the Church is correlated with the martyrdom of St. Stephen (Acts 8:4ff), this martyrdom prepared the conversion of the Apostle Paul (Acts 22:20). Eleven of the twelve apostles (except for the Apostle John the Theologian) ended their lives as martyrdom. And subsequently, 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 martyrs who suffered from these persecutions. In addition to the already mentioned martyrdom of St. Stephen, it speaks here, for example, of Antipas, “the faithful witness (μάρτυς)” of God, killed in Pergamum (Rev. 2:13). The Roman authorities in this initial period did not persecute Christians, without distinguishing them from Jews (Judaism was a permitted - licita - religion in Rome). Thus, the Jews on several occasions tried to betray St. Paul to the Roman authorities, but these authorities refused to condemn the apostle, since they considered the charges brought 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).

Persecution of Christians by the Roman authorities began from the time of Emperor Nero (-). They fall into three main periods. The first period includes persecution under Nero in the city and persecution under Domitian (-). During this period, the Roman authorities did not yet consider Christianity as a special religion hostile to it. Under Nero, Christians were persecuted and blamed for the Roman fire; 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 layers 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 state system, and the traditional cultural values ​​of Roman society. From this time the persecution of Christians began as religious community. 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 (c. Pliny asks Trajan what legal procedure he should follow in persecuting Christians. He asks this question because “he was never present at the investigations 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 about the legality of the persecution of Christians, and about the legality of the persecution “for the very name” (nomen ipsum), i.e. 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 make a sacrifice to the gods and an oath in their name, and lese majeste). Trajan, however, points out that there is no need to “seek out” Christians; they are only tried and executed if someone makes an accusation against them. Trajan also writes that “those who deny that they are Christians and prove this in practice, i.e. pray to our gods, they should be pardoned for repentance, even if they were under suspicion in the past.” The persecution of Christians in the second period was based on these principles - with one deviation or another. This period marks the martyrdom of such revered Christian saints as St. Polycarp of Smyrna (d. ca.) and St. Justin Philosopher. To understand the veneration of saints in the ancient Church, the principle of voluntary torment should be especially emphasized.

The third period begins with the reign of Emperor Decius (-) and continues until the Edict of Milan. In the edict issued by Decius, the legal formula for the persecution of Christians changes. The persecution of Christians was the responsibility of government officials, i.e. became not the result of the initiative of a private prosecutor, but part of government activities. The purpose of the persecution, however, was not so much to execute Christians as to force them to renounce. For this purpose, sophisticated torture was used, but those who endured it were not always executed. Therefore, the persecutions of this period, along with martyrs, produce many confessors. Primates of churches were primarily persecuted. The persecution was by no means constant, and was interspersed with periods of almost complete tolerance (the edict of Emperor Gallienus, - which allowed the heads of churches to freely engage in religious activities). The most severe persecutions occurred at the end of the reign of Diocletian (-) and subsequent years. In - gg. 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 (make sacrifices); The last edict of the city ordered all Christians everywhere to be forced to make sacrifices, achieving this by any torture. Martyrdom in these years was widespread, although in different provinces the persecution was carried out with varying intensity (they were most brutal in the east of the empire). The persecution ceased after the publication of an edict in the city, in which Christianity was recognized as a permitted religion (although restrictions on Christian proselytism were not explicitly lifted), and in full after the Edict of Milan, which proclaimed complete religious tolerance.

The story of Christian martyrdom, of course, does not end there. Martyrs, including mass ones, also took place later, under the Arian emperors, in the Persian Empire, in various countries where Christianity collided with paganism, during the struggle between Islam and Christianity, etc. According to the fair word of St. Justin (Popovich)

From the first day of its existence, the Church was, is and will be a martyr. Suffering and persecution are the atmosphere of God for the Church in which it constantly lives. At different times, this persecution was different: sometimes obvious and open, sometimes hidden and treacherous...

However, it is the history of martyrdom in the ancient period that is of decisive importance for the theological understanding of martyrdom, for the establishment of the veneration of martyrs (and the veneration of saints in general) and the development of its forms, which makes special attention to this period necessary.

Veneration of the martyrs

Veneration of martyrs develops in ancient times, apparently, simultaneously with the spread of martyrdom itself. Quite early it takes on 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 anticipation of the general resurrection in the flesh, is reflected in the emerging cult forms, primarily in the church remembrance 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 honoring the graves of martyrs and their remains (relics).

According to the testimony of “The Martyrdom of Polycarp of Smyrna” (Martirium Policarpi, XVIII), every year on the anniversary of his death, believers gathered at the martyr’s grave, served the liturgy and distributed alms to the poor. These basic elements formed the original cult of saints. The annual commemoration of the martyrs was understood as the remembrance of the day of their new birth (dies natalis), their birth in eternal life. These celebrations included the reading of acts of martyrdom, a meal of remembrance, and the celebration of the liturgy. In the 3rd century. this order was already universal. Such commemorations could be adopted individual elements corresponding pagan rituals (for example, distribution of koliv). Buildings were erected over the graves, in which (or next to which) commemoration was performed (gr. μάρτύρον lat. memoria); One of the models for them was the late Judaic memorial buildings on the graves of the prophets. After the end of the 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, Christian burial places became the center of church life, and 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 dead were separated by an impassable line and only the city of the living was a place of social existence (cemeteries were located outside the city limits). This revolution in consciousness became especially radical when the relics of martyrs began to be transferred to cities, around which ordinary burials were grouped (since burial next to the martyr was seen as a means of obtaining his intercession).

The development of veneration of martyrs prompted the Church in the centuries, after the end of persecution, to regulate this veneration in a certain way. Some of its forms, which coincided with pagan ones, began to be perceived as relics of paganism and were condemned (for example, St. Augustine of Hippo objects to the organization of funeral feasts at graves). Bl. Jerome of Stridon says that such excesses are explained by “the simplicity of the laity and, of course, pious women.” In this context, acts of martyrdom are revised and martyrs are canonized. Celebrating the memory of martyrs and building memorial churches over their graves receives canonical sanction. The celebration of memory grows from a private rite performed over the grave into a church-wide celebration - first at the level of the local church community, and then throughout the entire church. The days of remembrance of various martyrs (dies natalis) are combined into an annual cycle, recorded in martyrologies. On this basis, a fixed 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. Since ancient times, martyrs have been specially mentioned in the intercessory prayer (intercessio), pronounced immediately after the presentation of the Holy Gifts (epiclesis), and a special particle is set aside for them at 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-day” prosphora, divided according to the ranks of saints. According to the Russian missal, this particle is taken out “in honor and memory” of “the Holy Apostle, the First Martyr and Archdeacon Stephen, the holy great martyrs Demetrius, George, Theodore Tiron, Theodore Stratilates and all the holy martyrs and martyrs: Thekla, Barbara, Kyriacia, Euphemia and Paraskeva , Catherine and all the holy martyrs” (in different Orthodox traditions the set of names may vary).

Canonization of martyrs

As noted above, along with the martyrs in the Church of the era of persecution, confessors were also revered, i.e. those believers who confessed Christ, suffered torture, torture or exile and imprisonment for their faith, but died a natural death. According to St. John Chrysostom, “It is not only death that makes a martyr, but spiritual disposition; The crowns of martyrdom are often woven not for the end of the deed, but also for the intention.” .

However, there was a difference: members of the Church who suffered for Christ before death were included in the lists of saints without any study of their lives, and already by virtue of their feat - cleansing by martyrdom, while confessors, according to the testimony of Saint Cyprian of Carthage, were divided into two classes: those who were dying soon after the suffering they endured they were equated with martyrs; those who lived more or less long after them could be canonized as saints if they spent their subsequent lives completely righteous.

The Church revered the sufferer as a martyr only when there was complete conviction that the person did not stumble during the martyrdom, but accomplished it in unity with the Church, completely surrendering into the hands of the all-saving Providence of God. Naturally, victims of heretics or schismatics, as well as those who fell away due to a church schism or because of betrayal, or for non-church reasons, could not be counted among the saints.

Martyrs can be divided into those who suffered from pagans, infidels, heterodox and atheists; apostates can be identified as a special group of persecutors. Very often, religious confrontation is inseparable from the historical struggle of peoples and states.

All this leads to the conclusion that the main reason for glorification should not be the external, formal signs of martyrdom, but the internal motivations of the martyrdom of those who suffered for Christ, attested by the Church and popular veneration.

General prayers

Troparion to the Martyr, tone 4

Thy martyr, Lord, (name), / in his suffering received an imperishable crown from You, our God, / having Thy strength, / overthrow the tormentors, / crush the demons of weak insolence. / Through our prayers / save our souls.

Kontakion to the Martyr, tone 2

Thou hast appeared as a bright star, / the charmless one of the world, / proclaiming the Sun of Christ, / with Thy dawns, passion-bearing (name), / and thou hast extinguished all the charm, / and thou hast given us light, / praying unceasingly for all of us.

Glorification of the martyr

We magnify you, the passion-bearing saint (name), and honor your honest suffering, who you endured for Christ.

Troparion to the Martyrs, tone 2

Passion-bearers of the Lord, / blessed is the land that has drunk with your blood, / and holy is the village that has received your bodies, / in the funeral feast you have conquered the enemy / and preached Christ with boldness: / For this good thing you pray / to be saved, we pray, for our souls.

Kontakion to the martyrs, voice of the same

Lamps of light appearing, divine martyrs, / illuminating all creation with the light of miracles, / resolving ailments and always driving away deep darkness, / constantly praying to Christ God for all of us.

Glorification of the martyrs

We magnify you, holy passion-bearers, and honor your honest sufferings, which you naturally endured for Christ.

Troparion to the Martyr, tone 4

Your Lamb, Jesus, (name) / calls with a great voice: / I love You, my Bridegroom, / and, seeking You, I suffer, / and I am crucified, and I am buried in Your Baptism, / and I suffer for Your sake, / for I reign in You , / and I die for You, and I also live with You, / but as an immaculate sacrifice, accept me, sacrificed to You with love. / Through prayers, / as you are merciful, save our souls.

Kontakion to the Martyr, tone 2

Your all-honorable temple, as if you have found spiritual healing, / all the faithful cry out loudly to you, / the great martyr (name), / pray to Christ God unceasingly for all of us.

Glorification of the martyr

We magnify you, the passion-bearer of Christ (name), and honor your honest suffering, which you endured for Christ.

Troparion to the Martyrs, tone 1

The verbal lambs of the Lamb and the Shepherd, / were brought to Christ by torment, / ended the course, / and kept the faith. / Also today, with a joyful soul, we commemorate your holy memory, / magnifying Christ.

Kontakion to the Martyrs, tone 4

We celebrate the memory of the Passion-Bearers of Christ, / and by faith asking for help / for everyone to be delivered from all sorrow, calling: / Our God is with us, / Who glorified these as He willed.

Glorification of the martyrs

We magnify you, holy passion-bearers, and honor your honest sufferings, which you naturally endured for Christ. http://www.pravoslavie.ru/cgi-bin/sykon/client/display.pl?si...281.

See Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius, V, 2, 3

Creations, vol. 2, St. Petersburg, 1896, p. 732

St. Cyprian of Carthage. Epistle 27, 2.PL, IV, 328

See Epistle of St. Cyprian, 5, 3; 6, 4-5. PL, IV, 234, 237-238

Eusebius of Caesarea. Ecclesiastical history, V, 17,20-21

See St. Augustine. Col lat. cum. Donatistis, III, 25

Creations, part IV, M., 1844, p. 57

They wrote about how important it was to give their lives for Christ, believing that the meaning of their feat was to endure pain and other hardships.

In Russian, the word “martyr” sometimes evokes the wrong associations. For us, a “martyr” is a character from an ancient tragedy who endured unbearable suffering and died from torture or execution. A woman who raises many children alone or lives with an alcoholic husband can be called a martyr, but in the Church this word means something completely different.

The Greek word martis is translated “witness.” Christian martyrs were revered as saints not because they could endure torture or not be afraid of suffering, but because they were able to testify to Christ even in the face of death. It was a very scary form.

The first text about martyrdom for Christ can be found in the Acts of the Apostles. Chapters 6 and 7 of the book tell about the circumstances of Stephen's martyrdom. The fearless archdeacon defends the new faith before the Jewish elders, pronounces big sermon, and then dies under a hail of stones.

Historically, the testimony of the Acts of the Apostles is extremely valuable, since it contains not only a mention of the persecution of Christians by the Jews, but also the plot core of future martyria (narratives of martyrdom).

The central part of the story about the martyrdom of Stephen is the preaching of the foundations of Christianity and the denunciation of the errors of the Jews. The Apostle Luke does not put description at the center of his story terrible torture archdeacon, and his sermon.

Ancient martyrdom narratives also do not seek to titillate readers with detailed accounts of stoning, crucifixion, or other executions.

Ancient martyria is a dry record of interrogation by Roman judges. Legal proceedings in the empire were a formal matter. First of all, the official had to write down the name of the accused, his age, social origin and formulate the essence of the accusation.

The process itself began after an affirmative answer to the question: “Are you a Christian?”

At the beginning of the 2nd century, a person was condemned for his very belonging to Christianity, and the accused could justify himself almost immediately by renouncing Christ.

At the same time, the judge could not conduct proceedings against those people against whom formal charges were not brought.

Sometimes this led to unexpected consequences - a representative of the authorities could torture or execute a specific Christian, but slaves and relatives - followers of the new religion - could live peacefully in his house. As long as no one reported them, they were relatively safe.

After the trial began, torture could be used on the martyrs to force them to renounce Christ. The purpose of torture is not to kill the criminal, but to make him repent. With her help, the judge hoped to get the desired answer and end the trial.

Most often, interrogation protocols were built from alternating torture with interrogation, which was reflected in many hagiographies. In the Coptic martyrium of Apa (father) Victor we can find traces of authentic protocols, to which traditional hagiographic topoi (common passages) describing miracles are added.

In this text we see a constant tightening of torture, which corresponded to Roman practice: they started with more “humane” instruments, gradually moving to the most cruel. At the very beginning, judges limited themselves to the threat of torture.

Unfortunately, few ancient martyrians have reached us, and therefore we should consider the texts of the lives of martyrdom as a historical source with great caution.

Unlike Christians, Roman officials did not care about perpetuating the memory of martyrs. From the point of view of Rome, these were criminals whose veneration should be suppressed.

Followers of the new faith had to make great sacrifices in order to preserve the memory of the first Christian saints. It all started from the moment the martyr went to prison. Almost immediately, his fellow believers surrounded him with care: they bribed the guards, brought food, drinks and clothes to the place of detention.

According to ancient critics of Christianity, the concern for fellow believers was so great that scammers took advantage of this, posing as Christian martyrs.

After spending some time in prison, surrounded by the care of the local community, these people could renounce Christ at trial and move to another city, where everything could start anew.

It was even more difficult to gain access to the original protocols and bodies of the martyrs: the Roman authorities, aware of the veneration of bodies by Christians, made many efforts to destroy their bodies. Lives often describe that the sufferers were burned and given over to be torn to pieces wild animals or drowned in the sea.

Under these conditions it appeared a large number of false or historically unreliable martyrias, the authors of which filled in the gaps by inserting extensive theological pieces, giving them the appearance of a martyr's sermon. In fact, it would never have occurred to Roman judges to record in detail the stories of criminals about their faith, and therefore almost all the martyria, where the martyr addresses his executioners with a lengthy sermon, belong to late texts.

Sometimes the imagination of Christian authors was so great that instead of a short martyrium, a real adventurous novel appeared, which later became a real literary treasure. So in the life of Eustathius Placidas you can find a story about the tragic separation and miraculous finding of a wife and children, a story about a journey to distant countries and many other short stories that are not related to martyrdom. The very description of the torture and suffering of the saint occupies a small part of the entire narrative.

Another problem the Ancient Church had with the veneration of martyrs was the treatment of those who renounced Christ under torture or bribed Roman officials to avoid charges.

To prove his innocence, a Christian had to renounce and make a sacrifice to the gods for the health of the emperor. Some believers publicly called themselves Christians, but then, under threat of torture, renounced their faith and made sacrifices. Such people faced the most serious punishment - they were excommunicated from the Church and were not allowed to join until their death.

There were other ways to avoid persecution, which were not punished so severely: a Christian could bribe a Roman official to include him in the list of those who sacrificed, could stand at the sacrificial fire, imitating a sacrifice, and, finally, could present heretical or Christian books under the guise of sacred books of Christians. pagan writings.

Because of the attitude towards such people in the Church, a great dispute broke out between the Donatists, who believed that any serious sin forever separates a person from Christ and makes the sacraments performed by a person of less than impeccable morality invalid, and the Orthodox, who believed that a person can restore his belonging to Churches through repentance.

The Church forbade Christians themselves to seek the crown of martyrdom in order to prevent a person’s possible renunciation of Christ, but many followers of the new faith ignored this warning. During the last brutal persecution of Christians in the early 4th century under Emperor Diocletian in 305, many followers of the new faith became martyrs, despite the wishes of Roman soldiers to protect them. Eusebius of Caesarea in his “Ecclesiastical History” says that many Roman soldiers and officials gave Christians the opportunity to avoid punishment without renouncing their faith.

Over the three centuries that have passed since the founding of the Church, pagans have become accustomed to living peacefully next to Christians. De facto, tolerant relations were established between them, and no one in the empire wanted to produce new martyrs. It got to the point that the judges at the trial suggested the correct answers to the bishops and priests.

One cleric was asked to hand over holy books. He replied: “I have, but I won’t give it back.” The judge tried to prompt him, offering to get rid of any manuscripts (many gave the soldiers works of heretics or treatises on medicine). The cleric repeated his answer. Finally, the Roman official makes one last attempt to save the candidate for martyrdom, saying, “Give up the books, or you have none.” The initial response follows, and the Christian is condemned to execution. Many of the martyrdoms of the Diocletian era generally look like a chain of random events. Christians often sought death and did not show the slightest cunning. For example, returning after visiting the martyrs in prison, they truthfully told the soldiers where they had been, thereby dooming themselves to death.

In this testimony on the part of the martyrs there was no challenge to the empire or a desire to anger the judges. The sufferers died on crosses or went to silver mines not because they were tired of life and wanted to end it as soon as possible, but because the testimony of the Risen Christ was the most important thing for these people. important event in their lives, the truth for which they were ready to die.