“Martyrdom was the dream of my youth and this dream has grown with me. May this martyrdom, after having prepared me to appear before You, finally cause me to die, and may my soul take its flight without any delay into the eternal embrace of Your Merciful Love." – St. Therese, the Little Flower of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face
THE LAST MARTYRDOM is the Oblates’ perpetuation of the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ––whose entire life on earth was a martyrdom and crucifixion––their willingness to live and die for their profession of the Christian Faith, and their vigilance during the Last Days (the time from Our Lord’s Ascension to His future Coming) in fighting the enemies of Christ and His Church (the flesh, the world, and the devil) in anticipation for Our Lord’s imminent return in glory to judge the living and the dead.
For the first three centuries of Christianity, martyrdom of blood was the characteristic trait of the Saints. All of the first Apostles were martyrs except for St. John the Beloved Disciple, who still was not spared the trials and tribulations of martyrdom, and who died consumed, enraptured, and martyred by love.
In fact, the primacy of the Holy See is built upon the martyrdom of the two greatest Apostles, Sts. Peter and Paul, who were martyred in Rome. “Upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Also, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is offered on an Altar Stone containing relics of saints, which not only serves as a symbol of Christ but likewise as a memorial of when Mass was celebrated in catacombs on the stone coffins of the martyrs.
It was thereafter the “Age of Martyrs”, many Christians (the early monks) fled to the desert to perpetuate this martyrdom even if only through spiritual warfare. Thus the life (or should we say death) of every Christian was laid before him until the end of time: martyrdom––whether it is of spirit or of blood.
MARTYRDOM OF SPIRIT
“How many hidden martyrs there are, bearing witness to Christ each day and acknowledging Jesus as Lord!” – St. Ambrose
As there are many kinds of persecution, so there are many kinds of martyrdom. Yet there are three primary kinds: white, green, and red. White martyrdom is the giving up of all private wealth, celibacy, and strict obedience to a monastic rule and superior for the sake of the Gospel and becoming a consecrated brother or sister as a monk, hermit, canon, friar, or nun. Green martyrdom––the vocation of a lay monastic––while less radical, nevertheless entails living an austere life (ascesis) so that one can experience God more deeply and share God with others. Red martyrdom is the shedding of one’s blood for Christ.
The Christian ideal, which is the monastic ideal, is nothing more and nothing less than the martyrdom of Jesus Christ and the sharing in His Passion and Death––the total emptying and giving of oneself to God alone, and to lay down one’s life for others. If a Christian cannot acquire the glorious crown of martyrdom of blood, they must at the very least, tonsure themselves with the humiliating and mortifying spiritual crown of thorns, and enthrone their hearts upon of the ignominious cross at Calvary, and thus embody a martyrdom of spirit if they wish to Christianize the world, save souls, and receive, by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, the crown of eternal life.
Martyrdom is what God expects from the Christian who has died and been regenerated in the waters of Baptism as a child of God and a temple of the Holy Ghost, who has been anointed by the Fire of the Holy Ghost in Confirmation as a soldier for Christ and a herald of the kingdom of heaven, who has been nourished by Our Lord’s Body and Blood in the Most Holy Eucharist to be a “living sacrifice” holy and pleasing to God, and a minister of God’s reconciliation to men.
Martyrdom is what God expects from the monastic who has left all things for the “one thing necessary,” and who has offered himself as a victim and martyr for the Love of God in reparation for sins committed against Love, and who will proclaim the reign of Christ and His Church, not by force or coercion but by gentleness, intercession and persuasion––the reign of Divine Merciful Love, not condemnation and judgment.
In the earliest days of the Christian era, when the people of Christ were suffering cruel persecution, the cult of the martyrs was begun in order, says St. Augustine, “that the feasts of the martyrs might incite men to martyrdom.” As it is said, “The blood of the Martyrs is the seed of the Church,” we pray our martyrdom of spirit––a life of oblation––become, at the very least, like water to these apostolic seeds, bringing forth a new breed of apostles and saints bearing new fruits of redemptive life within the Church for the salvation of the world. This is our lay monastic life as Transitus Oblates of the Last Martyrdom. And if it be received without reservation and lived without compromise, what else is it but a true martyrdom.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
May Almighty God––who meets us in the secret catacomb of our hearts––bless us, and in the company of His Angels and Saints, proclaim, “How many hidden martyrs there are bearing witness to Christ each day and acknowledging Jesus as Lord!"
OUR NAME: THE LAST MARTYRDOM