Introduction and the Meaning of the Feast

His Holiness speaks about the Feast of the Martyrs (Eidrous), its meaning and its beginning as the martyrs’ calendar which starts from the year 284 AD as a result of severe persecution. The Church celebrates the martyrs daily and gives them a great place in worship and church life.

The Status of the Martyrs and Church Traditions

He explains that martyrs are honored by building churches and naming them after them, preserving their icons and relics, and naming children after them, and that convents and monasteries have traditions in the names of the martyrs.

The History of Martyrdom in the Church

He records the history of martyrdom from the Old Testament (John the Baptist is mentioned as the last martyr of the Old Testament according to the text) then in the New Testament (Stephen as the first martyr). All the apostles ended their lives by martyrdom except John, and martyrdom continued through the ages even after the declaration of religious freedom in 313 AD.

The Universality of Martyrdom and Its Forms

He points out that martyrdom included children, women and men and even former enemies who believed, and that some patristic writings encouraged martyrdom, to the extent that for some it became a longing to meet Christ in death. Nevertheless he mentions that the Church encouraged care for the families of the martyrs.

Spiritual Meanings of Martyrdom

He clarifies that martyrdom is a sign of the depth of love for God and the depth of faith in the afterlife, and that it is the highest rank of sanctity and greater than monasticism and priesthood because it involves giving up one’s life for the beloved. Also the “martyr’s mentality” has value — whoever is prepared for death for the faith is considered in the rank of martyrs even if he did not actually die.

The Church’s Preparation and the Readiness of the Faithful

It is shown that the Church prepared its generations through teaching (the defenders of the faith / apologists) and asceticism, training people in steadfastness and dependence on God so that they have the martyrs’ spirit in their daily life and not merely as a memory.

A Practical Call to Believers

He concludes with a call to every believer — the children of the martyrs — to acquire the martyrs’ spirit, be trained in their virtues, and make the Feast of the Martyrs a spiritual beginning in which they gain a virtue and train themselves in love of God and steadfastness in faith.

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