From the Events of History
Martyrdom in the Sayings of the Fathers
- “Those who were tortured were more courageous than those who tortured them, for the beaten and torn limbs overcame the instruments that beat and tore them.
The blood… extinguished the fires of hell and watered the seed of the Christian faith.”
— Cyprian the Martyr, Bishop of Carthage.
- “The Christian faith spread through the martyrdom of the saints more than it spread through the teachings of the preachers.”
— Saint Augustine.
- “Nothing can turn us away from our faith: neither the executioner’s sword, nor the cross of affliction, nor the fangs of savage beasts, nor chains, nor fire, nor torture of any kind. The more the number of believers increases, the more the number of disciples who take the side of Christ increases.”
— Justin Martyr, the Philosopher.
- “Do you not see Christians exposed to wild beasts in order to deny their God, and yet they are not overcome? Do you not see that the more those who are tortured increase, the more the remnant increases? This appears not to be the work of men but the power of God.”
— From the Epistle to Diognetus.
An article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – El-Keraza Magazine – Eighth Year (Issue No. 36) – September 9, 1977.
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