virgin martyr meaning

  These Virgin Martyrs illuminate the darkness of a disordered culture that has forgotten the importance and the meaning of purity. St. Agnes continued to deny him, and so Procop reported her to the prefect, a man named Sempronius, accusing her of being a Christian. The Church gave, and gives, total answers to total questions, and those answers were, and are, compelling. Today, we have St. Agatha, who, like St. Agnes, is in that group of “virgin martyrs.”  Not a lot is known about her life from a historical standpoint, but she is one of the most highly venerated saints, even from the time of the early Church. Today, we have St. Agatha, who, like St. Agnes, is in that group of “virgin martyrs.” Not a lot is known about her life from a historical standpoint, but she is one of the most highly venerated saints, even from the time of the early Church. Her sister, St. Emerentiana, was discovered praying at the grave on the anniversary of her martyrdom, and when she refused to leave, she was martyred as well! Pope Urban I recovered her body and buried it next to her friends in the Catacombs of St. Callistus along the Appian Way. Really, all that is known for sure about her is that she was martyred in Syracuse around 304 under the Great Persecution of Diocletian. Even in the short time after her death, she became an example for the Christian Church, and was highly venerated, even outside of Sicily. Search for "VM - Virgin Martyr" in . John and Paul. Peter and Paul (June 29). Although Mary speaks little but is the subject of much of their meditation and writing. It was Christianity’s exaltation of women, children, slaves, prisoners, the old, the sick, the foreigner, and the outcast that caused the vast leaven of the Church to slowly rise in the Mediterranean world. Her name, “Lucia” comes from the Latin word meaning “light”, so she does indeed represent a light of hope in darkness during one of the darkest (seasonal) times of the year! Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com. What is the meaning of VM abbreviation? Lucy’s dream was indeed true – her veneration exploded throughout the Church. She remembered that Agatha was martyred, right? An ancient homily relates: “A true virgin, she wore the glow of a pure conscience and the crimson of the lamb’s blood for her cosmetics.”. After dedicating her life to Christ, her beauty drew powerful men to her like a magnet. John and Paul. They then tried to burn her at the stake, but she wouldn’t burn! Their heroic virtues shine brightly over the bridge of time. However, our traditions from the Middle Ages have a lot more to say about her life. His family loved Sicily and had property there, so the young Gregory was familiar with that beautiful island’s saints and traditions. An ancient homily relates: “A true virgin, she wore the glow of a pure conscience and the crimson of the lamb’s blood for her cosmetics.”. St. Agnes, Virgin and Martyr. The martyr part came when he arrested her, first sending her to a brothel to be humiliated, before sending her off to prison. Etna as it seemed ready to erupt. At the age of 15, she rejected the advances of a certain Quintianus, a Roman prefect in Sicily – that’s the virgin part. Remember how we mentioned last week that veneration of St. Agatha quickly spread throughout Sicily and the rest of the Church? Today we move on to another saintly woman in the Roman Canon, St. Agnes. You have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. In the celebrations, a girl dressed as St. Lucy enters the party wearing a crown of candles, and presenting bread and sweets to those present. Lucy, like many of the early virgin martyrs, promised herself to Christ at a young age, but her mother had no idea. The tradition also has it that Eutychia suffered from some form of blood disorder, so without a father to protect the family, she likely was looking for some security and stability for her family, which she sought by marrying off her daughter Lucy. This peculiar image is, in fact, carved into the wall over the entrance to the sixth century church of Saint Agatha in Rome, a church re-dedicated by Pope Saint Gregory himself so long ago. February 5—Memorial (Optional Memorial if Lenten Weekday) Peter and Paul (June 29). All this caught the attention of the authorities, who dispatched an executioner named Maximus to put the brothers to death. It was there that she underwent numerous painful tortures and mutilations, even going so far as to cut off her breasts. Learn more. She is also proclaimed as the "Lady of the Angels". Some traditions say that the soldiers gouged out her eyes (a tradition often represented in artwork by her holding a platter of her own eyes!). Imagine: a child not telling her mother about something – I bet that’s never happened before! Doctors of the Church: St. Bede the Venerable, Doctors of the Church: St. Isidore of Seville, Doctors of the Church: St. But the stories of the women martyrs often relate something more—sexual humiliation. He reported her to the governer of Syracuse, who ordered Lucy to offer sacrifice to the emperor’s image – the typical test for Christians during the Diocletian persecution. The soldiers meant to drag her to the brothel behind a team of oxen, but miraculously, they couldn’t budge her from the spot! By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use. Whereas Saint Lucy is shone in art with her eyeballs on a platter, Saint Agatha is normally shown holding a plate on which rest her own breasts, as they were cut off by her pagan tormentors before her execution. St. Cecilia is most commonly invoked as the patroness of musicians because it is said that at her wedding, while people were singing pagan songs in celebration, she “was singing in her heart a hymn of love to Jesus, her true spouse.”  Here at All Saints, we are reminded of her example by the painting above the organ in the choir loft of the church. Feasts at the Conclusion of the Easter Season November st.Lucy of Syracuse-Virgin and martyr Name meaning: Light; bringer of light. The Church gave, and gives, total answers to total questions, and those answers were, and are, compelling. Feasts at the Conclusion of the Easter Season, Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, National Liturgical Calendars of the World. This account was later expanded upon, and gives us the legends we have today. The truth is that there is happiness and joy in being pure and holy, and these virgin saints are wonderful examples of this. Several years later, St. Constance, the daughter of the great Emperor Constantine, was miraculously cured of leprosy while praying at St. Agnes’ tomb. Although venerated as one of the holy virgin martyrs, little truth is known about Lucy. The Church did not create a victim class who complained about a privileged class. Perhaps during the persecution of the Emperor Decius around 250, she was arrested, interrogated, She refused to renounce her faith or to give in to the powerful men who desired her. It was Christianity’s exaltation of women, children, slaves, prisoners, the old, the sick, the foreigner, and the outcast that caused the vast leaven of the Church to slowly rise in the Mediterranean world. Patronage: Authors, blind people and blindness, cutlers, sufferers of eye diseases, sufferers of hemorrhagic illnesses, glaziers and glass workers, laborers, peasants, salesmen, writers, sufferers of throat infections, Venetian gondoliers . Excavations in the 1800’s by the famous archaeologist Giovanni Battista de Rossi discovered the house’s foundations under the present-day church, confirming the tradition, at least in some part. As the Roman Martyrology states, an angel protected her, and it was said that any man who tried to abuse or take her virginity from her was struck blind. The stories of the early male martyrs of the Church relate tales of extreme torture by their Roman captors. Saint Agatha, Virgin, Martyr c. Third Century. Now receive my spirit.”. Now receive my spirit.”. Pope Damasus, who reigned from 366–384, may have composed a poem in her honor, indicating how widespread her reputation was by that early date. Continuing with our string of “virgin martyrs”, this week we have St. Cecilia, a Roman noblewoman of a senatorial family. Very old, and very straightforward accounts were given of her interrogation and torture, which may indicate that the account was acquired from official documents of the Roman government. Find the perfect virgin martyr stock photo. The present Church is built over that home, which as you recall, is also the site of her martyrdom. And when their victims are women, that violence can be particularly vicious because their victims are so defenseless. Feast Day : December 13 . Feast Day :February 5 . St. Agatha came to Lucy in a dream, and told her that because of Lucy’s faith, her mother would be cured, and that she herself would become the glory of Syracuse, just as Agatha was for Catania. You guessed it – they tried to drag her off to be defiled in a brothel. But Maximus was so moved by their incredible faith and acts of charity, that he laid down his sword, confessed faith in Christ, and was himself martyred alongside Tiburtius and Valerianus. 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