The Early Christian Martyrs were RIGID in their Faith.

 

They did not waver in their resolve to resist the lures of paganism. They did not bend their principles, and refused to even burn some incense before the idols of Rome. They refused to show any veneration to the false gods and religions paraded before them, if they would only renounce the Lord Jesus. They would not participate in any pagan worship ceremonies, which would have allowed them to escape death in the arena for being Christians. 

 

They did not waffle on their moral code; the virgins would not submit to those who enticed them defile their purity. There was no thought of compromising their faith, which was firm and rigid like a rock, like that rock upon which the true Church is built. It was that very strength and rigidity of their faith in the face of tortures and martyrdom that led to the collapse of paganism, as explained below. 

 

If you have been graced with, or are open to, appreciating the sublimity and truth of Maria Valtorta’s revelations, read what the Lord Himself said about the fruits of that firm faith of those first Christian martyrs:

 

 

“You also fear persecutions. You no longer have the fiber of old. It’s true. But I am always Myself, children. You must not think that I can’t give you an intrepid heart in the hour of trial. Without my help, no one, even then, could have remained steadfast in the face of so much torture. And yet old men and children, young girls and mothers, and spouses and parents were able to die, encouraging others to die, as if they were going to a celebration. And it was a celebration. An eternal celebration!

 

“They died, and their dying was a breach in the dike of paganism. Like water which goes on eroding and eroding and slowly but inexorably breaks man’s sturdiest works, their blood, issuing forth from thousands of wounds, gnawed at the pagan wall, and like many brooks, scattered into Caesar’s militias, Caesar’s royal palace, into the circuses and spas, and among gladiators and animal keepers [...], and the cultured and common folk – everywhere, unstoppable and invincible. 

 

“The soil of Rome soaked up this blood, and the city rises – I might say it is cemented – with the blood and dust of my martyrs. The few hundred martyrs you are familiar with are nothing compared to the thousands and thousands still buried in the entrails of Rome, and the thousands and thousands of others who, having been burned at the stakes in the circuses, became ash scattered by the wind, or, after being torn to pieces and devoured by beasts and reptiles, became excrement which was swept up [...] as manure. 

 

“But if you do not know these unknown heroes of mine, I know them all, and their complete annihilation, even of their skeletons, has been what has fertilized the savage soil of the pagan world more than any manure and made it become capable of bearing the heavenly Wheat. 

 

“Now this soil of the Christian world is becoming pagan again, and poison germinates, not Bread. And that is why you are afraid. You have become too estranged from God to have the fortitude of old in you. 

 

“The theological virtues are dying in the places where they are not already dead. And you don’t even remember the cardinal virtues. In not having charity, it is only natural for you to be unable to love God to the point of heroism. In not loving Him, you do not hope in Him and do not have faith in Him. In not having faith, hope and charity, you are not strong, prudent and just. In not being strong, you are not temperate, you love the flesh more than the soul and tremble over your flesh. 

 

"But I can still work the miracle. Believe, too, that in every persecution the martyrs are able to be such through my aid. The martyrs – that is, those who still love Me. I then take their love to perfection and make them athletes in faith. I come to the aid of those hoping and believing in Me. Always. In any circumstance.

 

“The little martyr […] with his hands clasping the chalice, even beyond death, teaches you where strength is. In the Eucharist. When someone feeds on Me, as Paul states,204 he no longer lives through himself, but Jesus lives in him. And Jesus was able to endure all torments, without bending. Whoever lives by Me will thus be like Me. Strong.

 

“Have faith.”

 

 

Maria Valtorta, The Notebooks 1944, Feb. 29, p. 185. Available from the “Maria Valtorta’s Readers’ Group,” https://www.valtorta.org.au/

 

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