As most of us schlep along in our respective faith journeys, especially in this country, we sometimes forget the how costly our faith can be. The following is an excerpt from the martyrs of Lyons. It is both chilling and awe-inspiring.
The whole fury of crowd, governor, and soldiers fell with crushing force on Sanctus, the deacon from Vienne; on Maturus, very recently baptized but heroic in facing his ordeal; on Attakus, who had always been a pillar and support of the church in his native Pergamon; and on Blandina, through whom Christ proved that things which people regard as mean, unlovely, and contemptible are by God deemed worthy of great glory, because of her love for Him shown in power and not vaunted in appearance. When we were all afraid, and her earthly mistress, who was herself facing the ordeal of martyrdom, was in agony lest she should be unable even to make a bold confession of Christ because of bodily weakness, Blandina was filled with such power that those who took it in turns to subject her to every kind of torture from morning to night were exhausted by their efforts and confessed themselves beaten they could think of nothing else to do to her. They were amazed that she was still breathing, for her whole body was mangled and her wounds gaped; they declared that torment of any one kind was enough to part soul and body, let alone a succession of torments of such extreme severity. But the blessed woman, wrestling magnificently, grew in strength as she proclaimed her faith, and found refreshment, rest, and insensibility to her sufferings in uttering the words: “I am a Christian: we do nothing to be ashamed of.”
Blandina was hung on a post and exposed as food for the wild beasts let loose in the arena. She looked as if she was hanging in the form of a cross, and through her ardent prayers she stimulated great enthusiasm in those undergoing their ordeal, who in their agony saw with their outward eyes in the person of their sister the One who was crucified for them, that He might convince those who believe in Him that any one who has suffered for the glory of Christ has fellowship for ever with the living God. [Finally] after the whips, after the beasts, after the griddle, she was dropped into a basket and thrown to a bull. Time after time the animal tossed her, but she was indifferent now to all that happened to her, because of her hope and sure hold on all that her Faith meant, and of her communing with Christ. Then she, too, was sacrificed, while the heathen themselves admitted that never yet had they known a woman suffer so much or so long.
—Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History
Don’t fool yourself. Given half a chance, there are many who, given half a chance, would perpetrate acts like this against Christians today, even in our own country. Pray for such people, that God might change their hearts and release them from their hatred. Pray too that God might strengthen you in your trials so that you might come to know the power that Blandina knew.
The way of the cross involves suffering. But it also involves power, the very Power of our crucified God. As you continue in your Lenten disciplines of fasting and self-denial, remember the martyrs of Lyon to help you gain a proper perspective of what you are doing.
