Many of us have read about the vicious attempts that English Protestants made to get nearby Catholics to leave The Church. The agonizing tortures suffered by the faithful defy description. It is a wonder that The Church survived.
Elizabeth, after destroying more Catholic institutions than her father, made it a crime just to be poor. With The Church gone, the poor had nowhere to turn but greater poverty and servitude, or death. Their disappearance, of course, was the desired goal.
Ireland’s Church was attacked for the same reasons. Scotland’s, too. A few Catholics fought back. Each attempt to gain freedom became another excuse for annihilation. Catholics abroad tried to use England’s Catholics to foment revolution. Some were ready and willing. Most of them died for their efforts, and a few took others down with them, as the torturers extracted every last bit of information about their friends and allies.
Many, if not most, endured to the end. Each such person was a miracle. Each was rewarded with Heaven. Each day, we should think of them. Each day, we should try to endure. While enduring what they do to us and our brothers and sisters, we are to love our enemies. Fortunately, we can ask the martyrs for help in our own earthly struggles.
What a bizarre religion we have. What a gift it is. What a miracle it is that God has chosen each of us to merely endure to the end.
