The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Faith

The suffering of the martyrs during the 250 years of persecution deepened and strengthened the Christian Faith that was preached unto the far corners of the world by the Apostles and their disciples.  The Church in which we worship today is founded on their suffering and their blood which we venerate in their holy relics.  As we attend the Liturgy, celebrated on the Antimens, containing particles of relics, we must remember a Liturgy celebrated by the early Christians during the persecution under Emperor Maximilian (293-311), in the prison cell of St. Lucian.

A few Christians managed to penetrate into the prison where St. Lucian, a priest of Antioch, lay helpless.  His bones had been broken during the terrible trial.  The Christians brought bread and wine, but there was no church in the prison, nor even a table on which to celebrate the Liturgy.  St. Lucian said to the other Christians imprisoned with him: “Stand around me and you shall be the Church building, for surely a living Church is more acceptable to God than one made of wood and stone.”  “Where shall we place the wine and bread, Father?” they asked.  St. Lucian answered: “Put the bread and wine on my chest and it shall be a living altar unto the Lord God.”  Thus, a Liturgy was celebrated in prison more than 1600 years ago.  St. Lucian died early in the morning as the soldiers came to see whether he was still alive.  His last words were” “I am a Christian!  I am a Christian!  I am a Christian!”

* from The Orthodox Christian Church Through the Ages (Chapter 10: The Holy Martyrs)
by Sophie Koulomzin