In need of help please...( Christian responses only please )

Stephentlig

Hi folks, I was wondering if I could get any help with my blog.

I have a blog called www.thebloodofthemartyrs.blogspot.com

On it I put up Martyrs of the Catholic church, examples of how the Catholic doctrine never lets us down.

Would anyone here be willing to give me a list or handful of Martyrs they can think of? so I can get them up there? I havnt run out of course, as there are many many many martyrs, but its always nice to keep the flow going, I have already posted on the blog about 15 martyrs.

I'm picky with my Martyrs, its a bonus also if they have been martyred within the last 10 - 20 years.

bush Baby

Stephentlig wrote: »

Hi folks, I was wondering if I could get any help with my blog.

I have a blog called www.thebloodofthemartyrs.blogspot.com

On it I put up Martyrs of the Catholic church, examples of how the Catholic doctrine never lets us down.

Would anyone here be willing to give me a list or handful of Martyrs they can think of? so I can get them up there? I havnt run out of course, as there are many many many martyrs, but its always nice to keep the flow going, I have already posted on the blog about 15 martyrs.

I'm picky with my Martyrs, its a bonus also if they have been martyred within the last 10 - 20 years.

Being picky about one's martyrs makes one selective about what you understand a martyr is doesn't it?

One man's martyr is another man's religious extremist if you get my drift

Stephentlig

bush Baby wrote: »

Being picky about one's martyrs makes one selective about what you understand a martyr is doesn't it?

One man's martyr is another man's religious extremist if you get my drift

Oh no you obviously dont get my drift.

I'll put up any martyr, but its a bonus if they are within the last 10-20 years, my reason being to show people that martyrs are not just of the past but also of the recent.

postcynical

Hi Stephen, good luck with the blog.

What constitutes a martyr? Is it somebody who dies a violent death for their faith? What about somebody who lives a holy life and dies a natural death? For instance the late Pope John Paul II - the end of his life was a great witness to Christ and how a person can still be a light for Christ even when all his physical gifts are taken from him (old, decrepit, senile, unpopular)

What about Christians who give witness despite their health being at risk (health workers, emergency relief workers, soldiers etc.)?

Just curious. The only martyrs I know of are martyrs for the drink:pac:

Stephentlig

postcynical wrote: »

Hi Stephen, good luck with the blog.

What constitutes a martyr? Is it somebody who dies a violent death for their faith? What about somebody who lives a holy life and dies a natural death? For instance the late Pope John Paul II - the end of his life was a great witness to Christ and how a person can still be a light for Christ even when all his physical gifts are taken from him (old, decrepit, senile, unpopular)

What about Christians who give witness despite their health being at risk (health workers, emergency relief workers, soldiers etc.)?

Just curious. The only martyrs I know of are martyrs for the drink:pac:

Hi postcynical, Yes to my current understanding a Martyr within the Catholic church is one who dies for the faith, whether it be by a violent death or not so violent, whatever terminology we wish to use I do beleive that all deaths/murders are violent.

Pope John Paul the II was a great man who should be given honor and respect, but people like John Paul II we usually pray for such a persons canonization, and that he be one day an official saint of the church.

for more information upon what a martyr is I picked up this link for you.
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09736b.htm

as for the people whos health are at risk, they gave their lives but where not persecuted and died for the faith.

but for such people we thank God and pray for their canonization also.

In Christ
Stephen.

postcynical

Thanks for the link Stephen. I think I spent too much time reading Lisbon-mulch earlier or maybe that website has very dense text. Either way, your response has clarified my questions.

When I was in Auschwitz I heard the story of Max Kolbe. Amazing witness in such a dark place.

What about the Taizé-famous Brother Roger? He was killed while praying IIRC, not sure if it counts as persecution though.

Stephentlig

postcynical wrote: »

Thanks for the link Stephen. I think I spent too much time reading Lisbon-mulch earlier or maybe that website has very dense text. Either way, your response has clarified my questions.

When I was in Auschwitz I heard the story of Max Kolbe. Amazing witness in such a dark place.

What about the Taizé-famous Brother Roger? He was killed while praying IIRC, not sure if it counts as persecution though.

Yes maxamilian kolbe is already there on my Blog. my father went to visit that place also. my grandfather also fought in the second world war, he was there too.

what do you mean by ''IIRC''? is it an abbreviation?

I dont know much about brother roger, but if you can find something on him that would be great.
God bless
Stephen

postcynical

Yes, I saw Maximilian Kolbe on your blog. Plenty of others I had not heard of, so it was an interesting browse.

Here's some information on Brother Roger:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A8re_Roger

Sorry I've nothing more authoritative but you only wanted ideas!:)

That's interesting about your grandfather - he was in Auschwitz too? And IIRC is "if I recall correctly", it's not a cryptogram:)

Pax,PC

Stephentlig

postcynical wrote: »

Yes, I saw Maximilian Kolbe on your blog. Plenty of others I had not heard of, so it was an interesting browse.

Here's some information on Brother Roger:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fr%C3%A8re_Roger

Sorry I've nothing more authoritative but you only wanted ideas!:)

That's interesting about your grandfather - he was in Auschwitz too? And IIRC is "if I recall correctly", it's not a cryptogram:)

Pax,PC

wow you've certainly presented me with a difficult case thats for sure. It is debatable, also It would of been interesting to find out why the guy killed him.

I try to get martyrs new and old, particularly ones people have never heard of, because it drives the message I want to get out there a little more.

for me the story about Iqbal Masih was quite moving. tears flooded my eyes when I heard his story. so many out there we have not heard of yet.
there is also the 26 japanese martyrs too, and filmmaker martin scorcese is making film of them, should be out next year.

my favorites are sister dorothy stang, Iqbal Masih, 26 jap martyrs and Fr.charles de foucold.

God bless
Stephen

postcynical

Stephentlig wrote: »

wow you've certainly presented me with a difficult case thats for sure. It is debatable, also It would of been interesting to find out why the guy killed him.

Actually it was a lady. From memory I thought it was somebody who had been a victim of abuse but following the wiki link above it seems the lady was schizophrenic and/or mentally sick at the time of the attack.

I'm logging off now and don't want to end on a prickly note as I will read your blog again, but one of your justifications for highlighting these martyrs is to act as a counterbalance for some of the evil which our church has let occur (and covered up). I don't think a million saints counters the badness of these cover-ups and nothing short of repentance will suffice. Just as we individuals repent and turn back to Christ (rather than trying to balance our sins with our virtues), so must our church. Still a bit of good PR is always welcome and these are some inspiring Christian stories that should be better known.

Stephentlig

postcynical wrote: »

Actually it was a lady. From memory I thought it was somebody who had been a victim of abuse but following the wiki link above it seems the lady was schizophrenic and/or mentally sick at the time of the attack.

I'm logging off now and don't want to end on a prickly note as I will read your blog again, but one of your justifications for highlighting these martyrs is to act as a counterbalance for some of the evil which our church has let occur (and covered up). I don't think a million saints counters the badness of these cover-ups and nothing short of repentance will suffice. Just as we individuals repent and turn back to Christ (rather than trying to balance our sins with our virtues), so must our church. Still a bit of good PR is always welcome and these are some inspiring Christian stories that should be better known.

of course it doesnt counter the badness, but the premise of the blog is to teach those who walk away from the church, on the basis of the sinfulness of its members, that their position is a fallacious one. just because these horrible crimes/sins were commited by Christs representatives does not mean that they were in any way shape or form willed by Christ. many people think that because of the church scandals that the church doesnt teach truth and that the doctrine doesnt work, this blog however proves that it does work, and that people shouldnt judge truth by conduct, and if they continue to do so then they'd have to ignore my blog.

God bless
Stephen.