Martyrdom and Unity

What Good is the Martyr?

Most sincerely held convictions about the good of martyrdom usually include an argument for its being of some help toward the preservation of a people’s unity. Soldiers who die for their country might say so, in any case. It’s all very strange though, how the sacrifice of one man might benefit the life of a whole community. It’s like trying to understand how the Eucharist works.

Thursday was the Feast of Saint Christopher Magallanes and other Mexican martyrs put to death in the 1920s for being Catholic when the Mexican government was suppressing the Faith and all those who dared to celebrate the outlawed Sacraments. Like many others, Magallanes said before dying, “I absolve with all my heart those who seek my death, and I ask God that my blood bring peace to a divided Mexico.” What a mysterious connection between martyrdom and unity.

Is it because death is the common human experience that reminds us of our shared humanity, the way funerals tend to bring together people who haven’t spoken in years? Is it that the fear of death causes humanity to cry out for God, the God whom we know desires unity? Or is it more mysterious still, as when we read in the Bible that the shedding of blood is required for the remission of sins, sin being separation?

Isaac comes to mind, carrying the wood for the sacrificial fire that his father was preparing to light, like Christ carrying the Cross upon which He would lay down His life for our salvation.

In Genesis we read of God clothing Adam and Eve in the skin of animals after they sinned against Him. Does this mean God Himself was first to offer sacrifice? And again, what does it have to do with the forgiveness of sins?

We’ll let the theologians debate how the death of Christ on the Cross takes away the sins of the world and how the martyrdom of saints provides seeds for new unity. It is enough for us to know that they do, and that they are connected, the Cross of Christ and the man or woman who dies for God. To remain innocent in our hearts is the most important thing. To harbor no ill will toward a neighbor or enemy. To wish none harm. To do none harm. If our consciences do not condemn us we will have nothing to fear. The saints were not successful; they were faithful. +