When remembering the early saints of the Church, we extoll most greatly the men and women, young and old alike, who gave their lives for their belief in Christ. They were more willing to shed their blood in the course of horrifying tortures and executions than to renounce their Christianity. Over the course of time, these great witnesses of the Christian faith came to be known as “martyrs,” after the prophecy and command of Jesus, “You will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The word, “witness,” is simply an English translation of the Greek word Martyrion – martyr. A martyr, therefore, is one who gives a witness of their faith, and the supreme witness of Christian faith comes in a willingness to die for belief in Christ. These martyrs held fast to their faith: their belief that Jesus was the Lord of life and death, that he had conquered death, and that in Him, they too would rise from the dead.
The ninth chapter of St. Bonaventure’s Life of St. Francis is titled: “On the Fervor of His Charity and His Desire for Martyrdom.” With the previous intensity of the life of St. Francis, maybe this title doesn’t sound too terribly odd. And, in fact, many saints in the history of the Church desired martyrdom. Still, I think if we ponder that desire for a moment, we will realize just how far it is, generally speaking, from the desires of our own hearts.
When we think of what we want our faith to give us, we rarely think of sufferings. We want joy, peace, happiness, and tranquility. We sadly so often think that experiences of suffering – spiritual and physical – point to a distance between us and God. Saints like St. Francis and the many martyrs in the history of the Church teach us that the reality is very much the opposite. In suffering we draw close to Christ crucified. A certain level of happiness can certainly be a sign of the presence of God, but it is not the only one.
I think of a quote also of St. Rose of Lima: “Our Lord and Savior lifted up his voice and said with incomparable majesty: “Let all men know that grace comes after tribulation. Let them know that without the burden of afflictions it is impossible to reach the height of grace. Let them know that the gifts of grace increase as the struggles increase. Let men take care not to stray and be deceived. This is the only true stairway to paradise, and without the cross they can find no road to climb to heaven.” (Office of Readings)
She expresses well the reality that St. Francis knew also. In this chapter, St. Bonaventure records the journey St. Francis took to visit the Sultan King of Egypt. St. Francis knew that the King in Egypt had essentially made it a capital crime deserving of death to be a Christian in his kingdom. St. Francis, in his desire both to be a martyr and to spread the faith, journeyed precisely there to Egypt to shed his blood in witness to Christ.
He was brought before the King and proclaimed Jesus to him. St. Francis proposed a test of fire to prove the reality and existence of the Christian God. He was so willing to die in service to God that he impressed the King. No one took him up on the fire contest, and the King was so impressed with St. Francis’ zeal and poverty that he allowed him to go free. He did not kill St. Francis for being Christian. While this saddened and perhaps humiliated St. Francis a bit, he was not perturbed, and returned to Italy to continue living his religious life (Life of St. Francis, 9).
In order to remain free from sin in this life, we will suffer many trials of faith. May St. Francis’ prayers give us strength to persevere to the end!