Saint of the Day: First Martyrs of the Church of Rome The people we honor today had one thing in common: they all gave up their lives for Jesus. They were killed because they were his followers. By the year 64, Emperor Nero’s human rights violations had reached proportions beyond description. When a fire broke out in Rome on July 16, it was commonly believed that the emperor himself had set it. As almost the entire city lay in ruins, the anger of the people grew. Nero became fearful. He needed to blame the fire on someone else, and he picked the Christians. Tacitus, a well-known historian, recorded that the Christians suffered cruel deaths. Nero had some of them fed to wild animals. Others were tied to posts and became human torches that lit the Roman streets. The exact number of these Christian heroes is not known, but their gift of witness and their holy lives made a lasting impact on the people. Nero was the first Roman emperor to persecute the Christians, but he was not the last. And the more the Church was persecuted, the more it grew. The martyrs had paid the price so that all who would come after them would be free to practice the Catholic faith. ❦ We can be grateful that we live in a country in which we are free to practice our Catholic faith. Many other people do not have this same gift. Let’s ask the Martyrs of Rome to help all those who are persecuted because of their faith in Jesus.
Posted on: Tue, 01 Jul 2014 02:27:02 +0000
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