Martyrs of the Early Church

IF the reading of the Lives of the Saints is a great means to preserve piety, as is said by St. Philip Neri, and as is taught by all the masters of spiritual life, we shall find it yet more useful to read about the victories that the holy martyrs gained by sacrificing their lives amid torments. Hence, before relating their individual triumphs, we shall consider, to our spiritual advantage, the principal virtues of which they gave proofs in their combats. There is no doubt that the martyrs are indebted for their crown to the power of the grace which they received from Jesus Christ; for he it is that gave them the strength to despise all the promises and all the threats of tyrants, and to endure all the torments till they had made an entire sacrifice of their lives. So that all their merits, as St. Augustine writes, were the effects of the grace that God in his mercy imparted to them. But it is also certain, and even of faith, that on their part the martyrs co-operated with the grace which enabled them to obtain their victory. Innovators have blasphemed against this truth, saying that all the crimes of the wicked and all the good works of the just are the offspring of necessity; but the same St. Augustine gives them the lie when he says that in this case no reward or punishment would be just. The martyrs, therefore, acquired great merits, because the virtues of which they gave proofs in their combats were great and heroic. We shall briefly describe these virtues in order that we may imitate them in the tribulations to which we may be exposed in this life.