Early Church martyrs

[Terrie]

Is there a brief resource to describe what the early martyrs suffered and what they were defending?. I think it would be helpful for my husband’s family members who are fallen away Catholics to not take the faith of the early Christians lightly. God bless!

 

[Peggy_Frye]

A good resource for locating names of the early Church martyrs is in the Eucharistic Prayer I (Roman Canon):

…the apostles and martyrs Peter and Paul, Andrew, (James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Jude; we honor Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian)

…the apostles and martyrs, with John the Baptist, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, (Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia)

For a brief account of their lives, go to the following sites;

Saints:

• [1,001 Saints (http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Saints_Index)
  Original Catholic Encyclopedia:
  oce.catholic.com

Here are a few more sources:

Article: “The Passion of the Holy Martyrs Perpetua and Felicity” (actual account of their martyrdom):
newadvent.org/fathers/0324.htm

Good article: “The Church Persecuted and Defended” Fr. Robert Fox:
catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0045.html

*Martyrs of the Coliseum *
By Rev. A.J. O’Rielly.
Here is told both the fascinating history of the Roman Coliseum and the lives and deaths of many famous Roman martyrs, such as St. Ignatius of Antioch, St. Prisca, Pope St. Stephen, St. Vitus and companions, St. Marinus, St. Martina, etc. 14+

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