After honoring Sts. Peter and Paul, the two great pillars upon whom the Church of Rome was founded, today we celebrate the feast of many martyrs, including men, women, children, and youth who built upon this foundation and sacrificed their lives for their faith. During the early years of the Church, Christians faced several severe persecutions. The first occurred under Nero in 64 AD and another under Domitian in 95 AD. Trajan also tested their faith, hope, and love with a terrible persecution in 107 AD. Hadrian followed his example in 135 AD, and Marcus Aurelius did the same in 180 AD. Septimus Severus attempted to shake their constancy in 222 AD, followed by Decius in 250 AD and Valerian in 257 AD. The final attempt was made by Diocletian in 303 AD.
After 250 years of trials and tests, the Church finally experienced peace and growth in 314 AD when Constantine the Great declared Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire through the Edict of Milan. The Roman Canon, also known as the First Canon of the Mass, includes two lists of names such as Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas, and Damian before the Consecration. After the Consecration, the second list includes names like Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, and Anastasia. They were but a few among that "White Mass," as St Augustine so aptly terms them, because they were not afraid of proving their faith in deeds rather than merely in words, thus meriting the reward promised for those who follow the Lamb, dressed in white garments (Rev 7:13-17).
The reason why Holy Mother Church today offers us this Commemoration of the First Martyrs is three-fold: firstly, that we may always bear in mind that the blood of martyrs is first and foremost the seed of Christianity; secondly, she wishes us to prove, as they did, that our faith is a living reality within us and not merely a luxury to be enjoyed so long as the sun is shining bright and all is well with us; and thirdly, that we may always bear in mind that even we could someday be called upon to bear witness as they did - to our faith and our hope, to our love for God and our fellowmen, as so many of our contemporaries have done.
O God, who consecrated the abundant first fruits of the Roman Church by the blood of the Martyrs, grant, we pray, that with firm courage, we may together draw strength from so great a struggle and ever rejoice at the triumph of faithful love.
Jonathan Fabian Ginunggil,
Most High Servant,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph Ministry of Love (Blessed and Saints and the Nine Choirs of Angels)
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