pjmedia.com By David Manney
These stories aren’t fiction; they’re part of history.
- Soldiers mock a man being roasted alive on an iron frame.
- A young woman calms a very nervous executioner before the sword falls.
- Attackers burst into a church as a priest says Mass.
- A journalist is lured home to the gallows.
- Instead of being arrested, an editor sets herself on fire in her home.
- Disease and authorities silence a truth-speaking doctor.
These situations aren’t parables; they’re testimonies. When it’s real, conviction doesn’t end with applause; instead, it ends with scars, trials, or graves. Saints never looked for it, but when facing torture, they embraced it. Modern martyrs faced bombs, blades, and cages, and today’s LOUD left substitutes hashtags and gowns for courage.
How the Comparison Works
Three rules draw the line between the true and the false:
- Awareness: they knew the danger, but pressed forward.
- Sacrifice: they gave flesh, freedom, or life, not just applause.
- Power disparity: they faced regimes, mobs, or armies far stronger than themselves.
The saints passed with wounds, modern martyrs paid with breath, and today’s preachers of virtue never walk close enough to a line that would lead to bruising.
The Saints Who Paid in Blood
St. Bartholomew
Carrying the Gospel to the east, the Apostle converted pagans and won souls, actions that sparked fury. He was captured, condemned, and flayed alive before being beheaded. Depictions of St. Bartholomew holding his own skin are not medieval exaggerations, but a reminder of the ultimate cost of faith.
St. Lawrence
Rome’s deacon, Lawrence, faithfully served the poor during Emperor Valerian’s persecution. When he was ordered to turn over the Church’s wealth, he presented Christ’s greatest treasure: widows and orphans. That defiance cost him his life in a horrible way: getting roasted alive on an iron gridiron.
According to legend, Lawrence mocked his torturers, even as he burned, proving a spirit unbroken by fire.
St. Catherine of Alexandria
Catherine, renowned for her intellect, humiliated pagan philosophers in public debate, enraging officials who condemned her to a spiked breaking wheel.
According to tradition, her touch shattered the wheel.
Ultimately, she was beheaded, yet her broken wheel became emblematic of a woman whose faith in God gave her the strength to defeat any torture devices.
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