The First Persecution, Under Nero
No prediction of our Savior has been more strikingly fulfilled than his prediction that his people would suffer persecution because of their faithfulness and love for him. He left these sufferings to them as part of their inheritance in this world. To keep them from becoming disheartened by the many forms of human misery awaiting them, he told them that all people would hate them for his name’s sake. He also pronounced a glorious blessing on everyone found worthy to suffer for him.
He often repeated these gracious promises during his public ministry and renewed them after his glorious resurrection from the dead. He assured them of the help and support of his Holy Spirit, who would remain with them as a comforter until the end of the world. Not long after his shameful death and glorious ascension to heaven, they began to experience the truth of what he had so often told them.
The religion they professed was pure. It taught them to live peacefully with everyone and to treat others as they wished others to treat them. Yet its sublime doctrines and commands directly opposed the natural inclinations of the human heart. It presented the one living and true God as the only object of worship, through Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son. For these reasons, the hostility and rage of both Jews and pagans were soon aroused against them.
From our Savior’s crucifixion until Pentecost, which occurred fifty days later, the apostles and Jesus’ other disciples appear to have enjoyed a respite from persecution. They were allowed to gather for worship without interference. But on that memorable day, they spoke boldly in the name of Jesus, and their converts began to number in the thousands. This immediately awakened the envy and bigotry of their fellow Jews, who began a systematic persecution and opposition to the spread of the gospel.
For a time, they used mild means. When these proved ineffective, the people’s growing hostility finally broke out into open violence. More than two thousand Christians perished within the city of Jerusalem.
St. Stephen
This eminent saint was the first to suffer death for embracing the religion of Jesus Christ. He therefore received the immortal honor of leading that glorious band of Christian martyrs who soon followed him.
He was one of Jesus’ seventy disciples and was chosen, with six others, to serve as a deacon in the church at Jerusalem. He was a deeply zealous and faithful witness for his Lord and Master. Several leading members of five Jewish synagogues argued with him about the principles of the religion he professed. Unable to refute his sound doctrines, they became greatly irritated. To satisfy their desire for revenge, they induced false witnesses to accuse him of blaspheming God and the law of Moses.
Stephen was accordingly brought before a council. He made a noble defense, proving from the Scriptures of the Old Testament that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified and killed, was indeed the true Messiah. They became very angry and were about to pass sentence on him when he saw a heavenly vision. It revealed the Lord and Savior in his glorified state. In rapture, Stephen exclaimed, “Behold I see the heavens open, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.”
This enraged them still further. They immediately passed sentence, dragged him out, and stoned him to death. Like his divine Master, he died pleading for mercy for his murderers, saying, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.”
The Empress Eudocia later had a magnificent church built in his memory on the site of his martyrdom. He was put to death on December 26, which is therefore observed in commemoration of the event.
St. James the Great
This disciple was a Galilean by birth and the son of Zebedee, a fisherman. He was also John’s older brother and a relative of the Lord himself: his mother, Salome, was the Virgin Mary’s first cousin. One day, while James was fishing with his father on the Sea of Galilee, the Savior called him and his brother John to become his disciples. They gladly obeyed his command, left their father in the boat, and became followers of Jesus.
Their divine Master placed greater confidence in these brothers and the apostle Peter than in the rest of his disciples. Whenever he was about to give a special revelation of his power, he always took these three with him, excluding the others. He also gave the two brothers the name Boanerges, meaning “sons of thunder,” because of their vigorous minds and impetuous temper.
When Herod Agrippa became governor of Judea, he began persecuting the Christians to win the favor of his Jewish subjects. James was singled out as the first object of his vengeance and condemned to be beheaded. Yet James showed such steadfastness and peace of mind that his accuser was filled with admiration and converted to Christianity. This conversion so enraged the crowd assembled to witness the execution that they cried out with one voice, “Let him die also!” Both men were accordingly beheaded together.
This took place on July 25, AD 44. That day is observed in commemoration of the saint. About this time, Timon and Parmonas, two of the seven deacons, suffered martyrdom: Timon at Corinth and Parmonas at Philippi in Macedonia.
St. Philip
This apostle was born at Bethsaida in Galilee and was the first to be called a disciple. Jesus entrusted him with several important missions. After Jesus’ resurrection, Philip was appointed to preach the gospel in Upper Asia. After working there for some time, he traveled to Phrygia, where he found the inhabitants so deeply sunk in idolatry that they worshiped a large serpent. He succeeded in converting many of them to Christianity and had the serpent killed.
This so enraged the pagan priests and magistrates that they imprisoned him. He was then taken out, severely whipped, and finally crucified. His friend Bartholomew found an opportunity to take down his body and bury it. For doing so, Bartholomew narrowly escaped the same fate.
Philip’s crucifixion took place on May 1, AD 52. That day commemorates his death, together with that of St. James the Less.
St. Matthew
This apostle and evangelist was born in Nazareth of Galilee but lived chiefly in Capernaum. There he collected tolls, or tribute, from those who needed to cross the Sea of Galilee. When called to be a disciple, he immediately obeyed, leaving everything else to become a follower of Christ.
After his Master’s ascension, he continued preaching the gospel in Judea for nearly nine years. As he prepared to leave to preach to the Gentiles, he wrote his Gospel in Hebrew and left it behind for his Jewish converts. He then traveled to Ethiopia, where he made many converts and established several churches. He later visited Parthia with similar success. But when he returned to Ethiopia, he was killed with a halberd in the city of Madabar in AD 60. September 21 is observed in commemoration of his death.
St. Mark
This evangelist and martyr belonged to the tribe of Levi. He is believed to have been a convert of St. Peter, whom he served as a secretary. The converts at Rome asked him to put into writing the admirable discourses they had heard from St. Peter and from Mark himself. He therefore composed his Gospel, which was first written in Greek.
He then went to Egypt. After establishing the church at Alexandria, he traveled to Libya, where he also made many converts. When he returned to Alexandria, some of the Egyptians, enraged by his success, determined to put him to death. They tied his feet and dragged him through the streets until he was nearly dead. Then they threw his mangled body into prison, where he soon died.
His body was taken out and burned the next day. This occurred on April 25, which is dedicated to his memory. After his body was burned, the Christians gathered his bones. These were later carried to Venice, where he is considered the city’s patron saint.
St. James the Less
This apostle was given this name to distinguish him from the other James, who was called the Great. He was the son of Joseph, the Lord’s reputed father, by Joseph’s first wife, and is therefore called the Lord’s brother. After Christ’s resurrection and ascension, he was elected bishop of the church at Jerusalem. He later wrote his general epistle to counteract a dangerous doctrine being spread: “Faith in Christ alone is sufficient for salvation without good works.”
After this, the Jews became greatly enraged because St. Paul had escaped their fury by appealing to Rome. They determined to take their revenge on James, who was now ninety-four years old. They threw him down from a pinnacle of the temple and then beat out his brains with a cloth worker’s club. His festival, together with St. Philip’s, is observed on May 1.
St. Matthias
After Christ’s death, the other apostles appointed Matthias to their office to take the place of Judas the apostate. He had been one of the seventy disciples and was distinguished for his piety. He suffered martyrdom at Jerusalem, where he was first stoned and then beheaded. February 24 is dedicated to his memory.
St. Andrew
This apostle was St. Peter’s brother and preached the gospel to several Asian nations. When he arrived at Edessa, Egeas, the governor of the country, threatened him for preaching against the idols worshiped there. Andrew continued spreading his doctrines and was ordered to be crucified on a cross with two ends set crosswise in the ground. He boldly told his persecutors that he would not have preached the glory of the cross if he had feared dying on it. Again, when he came to be crucified, he said that he desired the cross and longed to die on it.
He was fastened to it with cords rather than nails so that his death would be slower. He remained in this condition for nearly two days, preaching for most of that time until his strength finally failed. He died on November 30, which is commemorated as his festival.
St. Peter
This apostle was born in Bethsaida in Galilee. He was the son of Jonah, a fisherman, and followed the same occupation. His brother Andrew persuaded him to become a follower of Christ, who gave him the name Cephas, meaning “a rock” in Syriac. He was called to be an apostle at the same time as Andrew. He gave extraordinary proof of his zeal and faithfulness to Christ, although on one occasion his fears so overcame him that he denied Christ.
After Christ’s death, the Jews continued persecuting his followers and ordered Peter and several other apostles to be whipped. They endured this patiently, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer for their Redeemer.
Herod Agrippa had James the Great put to death. Because this pleased the Jews, he next moved against Peter and imprisoned him, intending to bring him out for a public execution after the festival of Easter. To keep him more securely, Herod assigned sixteen soldiers to maintain a constant watch at the prison door. But an angel appeared to Peter on the evening before his scheduled execution and freed him from prison. Herod was so enraged that he had the soldiers put to death.
After various other miracles, Peter withdrew to Rome. There he defeated all the schemes and confounded the magic of Simon Magus, a great favorite of Emperor Nero. Peter also converted one of Nero’s favorite concubines to Christianity. This so enraged the emperor that he had both Peter and Paul arrested. During their imprisonment, they converted two captains of the guard and forty-seven others to Christianity.
After nine months in prison, Peter was brought out, severely whipped, and crucified with his head downward. He chose this position himself because he considered himself unworthy to suffer in the same manner as his Master. His festival is observed on June 29, the day on which both he and St. Paul suffered.
His body was taken down, embalmed, and buried in the Vatican, where a splendid church was built over his burial place. Emperor Heliogabalus destroyed this church, and Peter’s body was removed. It remained elsewhere until Cornelius, the twentieth bishop of Rome, had it returned. Constantine the Great then built one of the world’s most magnificent churches over the site. Before Peter’s death, his wife suffered martyrdom for her faith in Christ, showing great calmness and steadfastness.
St. Paul
This apostle was a Jew of the tribe of Benjamin, born at Tarsus in Cilicia. Before his conversion, he was called Saul. At first, he was a bitter enemy and persecutor of the Christians and a leading instigator of St. Stephen’s death. Soon afterward, he traveled to Damascus to arrest anyone he found calling on the name of the Lord. Suddenly, a light from heaven shone around him, accompanied by a voice saying, “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” He was struck to the ground and remained blind for three days. Immediately after recovering, he became a professing Christian and an apostle.
During his work of spreading the gospel, he converted Sergius Paulus, the proconsul of Cyprus, to the faith. On this account he took the proconsul’s name and, as some suppose, was thereafter called Paulus instead of Saulus. After his many labors, he took Barnabas with him and went up to Jerusalem to Peter, James, and John. There he was ordained and sent out to preach to the Gentiles.
At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas were nearly stoned to death by the enraged Jews and fled to Lystra. There they were stoned, dragged out of the city, and left for dead. They revived, however, and escaped to Derbe. At Philippi, they were imprisoned and whipped, and afterward they were severely persecuted at Thessalonica.
Paul was later seized at Jerusalem and sent to Caesarea. He appealed to Caesar and was sent to Rome. There he was held for a time as a prisoner allowed some freedom. When he was finally released, he visited the churches in Rome and Greece and traveled to France and Spain. Returning to Rome, he was arrested a second time and, by Nero’s order, beheaded with a sword. Two days are dedicated to this apostle: January 25 commemorates his conversion, and June 29 commemorates his death.
St. Jude
This apostle was the brother of James the Less and is also called Thaddeus. Sent to Edessa, he performed many miracles and made many converts. This stirred up the people’s resentment, and he was crucified on October 28, AD 72. That day is dedicated to his memory.
St. Bartholomew
This apostle preached in many countries, healed many diseases, and performed other miracles. He finally traveled to India, where he translated the gospel into the Indian language and made many converts. But the idolaters grew weary of his preaching. They first whipped him, then crucified him, and finally cut off his head. The anniversary of his martyrdom is August 24.
St. Thomas
This apostle was called Thomas in his native language, but Didymus in Syriac. He preached in Parthia and India, where he displeased the pagan priests and was run through with a spear. His martyrdom is commemorated on December 21.
St. Luke the Evangelist
This eminent saint wrote the Gospel that bears his name, as well as the Acts of the Apostles. He traveled with St. Paul to Rome and preached to several uncivilized nations. He was finally hanged on an olive tree by order of the pagan priests of Greece. The anniversary of his martyrdom is October 18.
St. Simon
This apostle was distinguished for his zeal by the name Zelotes. He preached with great success in Mauritania and other parts of Africa, and even in Britain. Although he made many converts there, he was finally crucified in AD 74. The anniversary of his death, together with St. Jude’s, is commemorated on October 28.
St. John
This eminent saint was distinguished as a prophet, apostle, evangelist, theologian, and martyr. He is called the beloved disciple and was the brother of James the Great. He was first a disciple of John the Baptist. Later he became not only one of the twelve apostles but also one of the three to whom Christ disclosed the most private events of his life. He founded the churches of Smyrna, Pergamos, Sardia, Philadelphia, Laodicea, and Thyatira, to which he addressed his book of Revelation.
While John was at Ephesus, Emperor Domitian ordered him sent in chains to Rome. There he was condemned to be thrown into a cauldron of boiling oil. But a miracle was performed in his favor: he suffered no injury from the oil. He was then sent to the island of Patmos to work in the mines. Nerva, who succeeded Domitian, later recalled him. Nevertheless, John was considered a martyr because he had undergone an execution, even though it had failed to kill him.
He wrote his Gospel, Epistle, and Revelation in different styles, but all are equally admired. He was the only apostle to escape a violent death and lived longer than any of the others. He was nearly a hundred years old when he died. December 27 is observed in commemoration of his death.
St. Barnabas
This saint was a native of the island of Cyprus but was born to Jewish parents. The date of his death is uncertain, but it is believed to have occurred in AD 73. His festival is observed on June 11.
