Choose a topic from Part 2B:
1. The Greek word martyr means a witness. A martyr,then, in the meaning of a person who dies for the faith, is one whobears witness to the truth, and will not withdraw his testimonyeven though it costhim his life. Martyrdom is an act ofvirtue standing firm for truth and justice against allpersecution.
2. The virtue of which martyrdom is an act is the virtueof fortitude. Some have said that martyrdom for the faith is an actof faith; some have called martyrdom an act of love for truth; somehave considered martyrdom an act of the virtue of patience. But thereal essence of martyrdom is its enduring with faith,love, and patience, the terrors and pains of deadly persecution.Therefore, primarily, martyrdom is an act of fortitude.
3. Indeed, charity or love for the cause for which amartyr suffers, is so prominent a feature of martyrdom that itmakes it an act of the greatest perfection. Fortitude is not, initself, the most excellent of virtues, and yet this act offortitude is a most excellent act. This is so because martyrdom issuffused with charity which, as scripture says (Col. 3:14), is"the bond of perfection."
4. Martyrdom, in completeness and perfection, consists insuffering death for the sake of a cause. Christian martyrdom isdying for the sake of Christ. For, until death has ended all hisacts, a man has not given full and complete demonstration of hisunshakable endurance and his unchanging will.
5. All the virtuous acts of a Christian are professions ofhis faith. Therefore, all the virtues from which the virtuous actscome may be assigned, each in turn, as the causes of martyrdom. Fora person can, under persecution, be called upon to suffer death asthe alternative for clinging steadfastly to any one of theChristian virtues. Yet, in every case, it is the faith which thevirtue represents that is the chief target of attack. Hence, we maysay that the faith, or the truth of the faith, is the cause of theact of martyrdom in the martyr.
"Whoever wants to stand alone without the support of a master and guide will be like the tree that stands alone in a field without a proprietor. No matter how much the tree bears, passers-by will pick the fruit before it ripens.
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St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church
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"This is the greatest wisdom -- to seek the kingdom of heaven through contempt of the world. "
Thomas á Kempis
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"The essence of perfection is to embrace the will of God in all things, prosperous or adverse. In prosperity, even sinners find it easy to unite themselves to the divine will; but it takes saints to unite themselves to God's will when things go wrong and are painful to self-love. Our conduct in such instances is the measure of our love of God."
St Alphonsus de Liguori
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