My beloved spiritual children in Christ Our Only True God and Our Only True Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE. Ο ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ ΕΝ ΤΩ ΜΕΣΩ ΗΜΩΝ! ΚΑΙ ΗΝ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΙ ΚΑΙ ΕΣΤΑΙ.
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MARTYRDOM: DEATH AND RESURRECTION (Part II)
by Olivier L. Clement
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The Martyrdom of Saint Polycarpos (Polycarp)
In the account of the martyrdom of Saint Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna, in the same period, one is struck by the affectionate simplicity of the man and the power of his intercession. He welcomes the police officers as neighbors sent to him by God. He does not pray for himself but for all those whom he has met, good or bad, and for the Universal Church.
Since his conscience is involved, the martyr deliberately disobeys the authorities. He calmly proclaims before magistrates and crowd that the only 'Lord' is Christ, namely God-made-man, and not the holder of power, not the sacralized might of Rome. Thereby he asserts the transcendence of conscience, of the person made in the image of God. He makes his own the protest of Antigone and Socrates but in the joy of the resurrection. He radically relativizes political importance.
For all that, the martyr is not a rebel. Like Socrates, he accepts the sentence of the magistrates and prays for the Emperor. By that very fact, he is a blessing to the city of men, and without disrupting it, he enriches it with an uncompromising freedom.
The end of the passage takes up again the identification of martyrdom with the Eucharist, the witness of victory over death.
Learning then that the police officers were there, he [St. Polycarp] went down and talked to them. They were amazed at his age his calmness and at the trouble that was taken to arrest a man as old as he. He had served them with as much food and drink as they wished, asking them only for an hour to pray as he desired. They allowed him that, and standing upright he began to pray, so full of God's grace that for two hours he could not stop, and those who heard him were astonished, and many repented of having come to arrest so holy and old man.
In his prayer, he remembered all the people he had ever met, illustrious or obscure, and the whole catholic (universal) Church spread throughout the world. When he had finished, the hour having come to depart, they mounted him on an ass and took him to the city...Quickly they piled round him the materials prepared for the pyre (fire). As they were about to nail him to it he said, 'Leave me like this. He Who gives me strength to endure the fire will also enable me to remain firm at the stake.' Accordingly, they did not nail to it, but they bound him. With his hands behind his back, he looked like a ram chosen for sacrifice from a large flock...Raising his eyes to heaven he said:
"Lord, Almighty God, Father of Thy beloved and Blessed Son Jesus Christ through Whom we have received the knowledge of Thy name, God...of all creation...I bless Thee for having judged me worthy of this day and of this hour, to share among the number of Thy martyrs in the chalice of Thy Christ, looking for the resurrection of body and soul in the fullness of the Holy Spirit...And so for everything I praise Thee, I bless Thee, I glorify Thee, through the Eternal Heavenly High Priest Jesus Christ Thy Well-Beloved Son, through Whom, be glory to Thee with Him and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen."
...In the midst of the fire stood, not like burning flesh, but like bread baking. (Martyrdom of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, 7, 2-8, 1; 14, 1-3; 15,2 (SC 10, pp. 250, 252, 260, 262, 264).
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The following dreams, which are visions, show the souls of the martyrs taking part in the Heavenly Liturgy as it is described in the Apocalypse (Revelation). The gardens of Paradise with the leaves of the trees singing to the breeze of the Spirit; a temple or a palace with walls of Light; at the center of it all, the Ancient of Days with white hair but a face radiating youth; the face of Christ in the youthfulness of the Spirit; kiss of peace; the mouthful of food offered by the Shepherd; the ineffable perfume that is as food; so many symbols of the mystical state of martyrdom similar to the actual experience of the Eucharist.
Perpetua's Vision
Then I went up. I saw an enormous garden. In the middle, there was a tall man dressed as a shepherd. He was engaged in milking sheep. Around him, in thousands, were men clothed in white. He raised his head, looked at me and said, 'Welcome, My child.' He called me and gave me a mouthful of the cheese He was preparing. I received it with hands joined. I ate it and they all said, 'Amen.' At the sound of the voices, I woke up with the taste of a strange sweetness in my mouth. I related this vision at once to my brother (Saturus) and we understood that it was martyrdom that awaited us.
Saturus's Vision
Our martyrdom was over. We had left our bodies behind. Four Angels carried us towards the East but their hands did not touch us...When we had gone through the first sphere that encircles the earth we saw a great Light. Then I said to Perpetua who was at my side, 'This is what the Lord has promised us.' We had reached a vast open plain that seemed to be a garden with oleanders and every type of flower. The trees were as tall as cypresses and their leaves sang without ceasing...We arrive at a palace whose walls seem to be made of light. We go in and hear a choir repeating, 'Holy, Holy, Holy.' In the hall is seated a man clothed n white. He has a youthful face and his hair shines white as snow. On either side of him four elders...We go forward in amazement and we kiss the Lord Who caresses us with His hand. The elders say to us, 'Stand up!' We obey and exchange the kiss of peace...We recognize many of the brethren martyrs like us. For food, we all had an ineffable perfume that satisfies us wholly. (Martyrdom of Felicity and Perpetua (Knopf-Kruger)
[Source: Myriobiblos. Martyrdom: Death and Resurrection by Olivier L. Clement)
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"Glory Be To GOD For All Things!"--Saint John Chrysostom
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With sincere agape in His Holy Diakonia,
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+Father George