Memorial of Saints Cornelius, Pope, and Cyprian, Martyrs

Updated Sept 16, 2025

September 16 marks the memorial of Saints Cornelius and Cyprian


There was no pope for 14 months after the martyrdom of Saint Fabian because of the intensity of the persecution of the Church. During the interval, the Church was governed by a college of priests. Saint Cyprian, a friend of Cornelius, writes that Cornelius was elected pope “by the judgment of God and of Christ, by the testimony of most of the clergy, by the vote of the people, with the consent of aged priests and of good men.”

While today the Church has a pope, of the persecution of the Church has intensified with the assassination of Charlie Kirk.



Saints Cornelius and Cyprian were Bishops of Rome and Carthage during a period of schism in the 3rd century. The root cause of the schism was the question of re-admittance of apostatized Catholics throughout the Roman Empire. Cornelius and Cyprian believed that these individuals could return to communion with the Church after performing public penance. The opposite opinion was held by the anti-pope Novatian; he believed that the apostatized could not return to the Church. Cornelius and Cyprian believed that this topic was important to show the divine mercy of God. After holding their position against Novatian, Cornelius and Cyprian were martyred during persecutions order by the Roman emperor

Saint Cornelius is Patron Saint of cattle and domestic animals, invoked against earaches, epilepsy, fevers, and twitching

Divine Office (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours) hymn used  when commemorating martyrs. It extols the virtues and sacrifices of martyrs who remained steadfast in their faith despite suffering and torture, ultimately achieving eternal light. 

Saints Cornelius and Cyprian lived and served Christ and His Church during a time not significantly different from what we are going through today: Take away ad hominem attacks, politispeak slander and euphemisms, it’s obvious that we have a full on attack on Judeo-Christian values - the very ones America was founded uponl and attacks  on Christianity by Corporate America, including Bud Light, Delta Airlines, NorthFace,  the US Navy, Kohl’s, Major League Baseball,  Los Angeles Dodgers, Target,  USSoccer,  et al, ad the White House, DOJ, FBI and Main Stream Media are in lock step to promote the Christo-Fascist, America Is Racist narratives

Saints Cornelius and Cyprian faced severe persecution from the state and led the people of God through that suffering by word and example. They also vigorously supported the unity of the Church, were merciful to sinners, and were true shepherds of their flocks.


Cyprian, born Thascius Caecilius Cyprianus, was the son of wealthy pagan parents in North Africa. Well-educated in Greco-Roman literature and rhetoric, he had a successful career as a lawyer and teacher. Around the age of forty-six, he converted to Christianity and gave much of his wealth away, devoting himself to prayer and asceticism. Within three years, he was ordained a deacon, a priest, and finally, the Bishop of Carthage, in modern-day Tunisia, North Africa, around the year 249.


Saint Cyprian of Carthage is second in importance only to the great Saint Augustine as a figure and Father of the African church. He was a close friend of Pope Cornelius, and supported him both against the anti-pope Novatian and in his views concerning the re-admittance of apostates into the Church.

His writings are of great importance, especially his treatise on The Unity of the Catholic Church, in which he argues that unity is grounded in the authority of the bishop, and among the bishops, in the primacy of the See of Rome.

In 250, Roman Emperor Decius implemented the first empire-wide, systematic persecution of Christians.
During the persecutions, Pope Fabian was martyred. Once Emperor Decius died and the persecutions ended, a group of bishops gathered in Rome and elected Cornelius as the new pope. Novatian was displeased with this development and had himself ordained as a second bishop of Rome, positioning himself as the first antipope.  After Emperor Decius died, Gallus became the Roman emperor. While Gallus did not continue the empire-wide persecution of Christians, he did support the restoration of pagan Roman religious practices. Within a year of becoming emperor, he had Pope Cornelius exiled to Centumcellae (modern-day Civitavecchia), a city just outside Rome, on the Mediterranean coast. A year later, due to harsh conditions, Pope Cornelius died in exile and is considered a martyr.


As we honor these early saints, ponder the impact that they had on the early Church. Their witness affected the people of their time and has had an ongoing effect upon subsequent generations. Honor these holy men of God by imitating their courage and mercy in your own life so that God will use you to influence not only those in your life, but also those who will come after you in ways that are known only to God.

Trial of Saint Cyprian

On the morning of the 14th of September, a great crowd gathered at the Villa Sexti, in accordance with the order of the governor Galerius Maximus. That same day the governor commanded Bishop Cyprian to be brought before him for trial. After Cyprian was brought in, the governor asked him, “Are you Thascius Cyprian?”

The bishop replied, “Yes, I am.”

The governor Galerius Maximus said, “You have set yourself up as an enemy of the gods of Rome and our religious practices. You have been discovered as the author and leader of these heinous crimes, and will consequently be held forth as an example for all those who have followed you in your crime. By your blood the law shall be confirmed.” Next he read the sentence from a tablet. “It is decided that Cyprian should die by the sword.”

Cyprian responded, “Thanks be to God!”

After the sentence was passed, a crowd of his fellow Christians said, “We should also be killed with him!” There arose an uproar among the Christians, and a great mob followed after him. Cyrprian was then brought out to the grounds of the Villa Sexti, where, taking off his outer cloak and kneeling on the ground, he fell before the Lord in prayer. He removed his dalmatic and gave it to the deacons,  and then stood erect while waiting for the executioner. When the executioner arrived, Cyprian told his friends to give the man 25 gold pieces.

The most blessed martyr Cyprian suffered on the 14th of September under the emperors Valerian and Gallienus, in the reign of our true Lord Jesus Christ, to whom belong honor and glory for ever. Amen
From the proconsular Acts of the Martyrdom of Saint Cyprian, bishop of Carthage (Acta 3-6: CSEL 3, 112-114).

St. John Chrysostom, Golden Tongue, Figthing the Early Swamp

John Chrysostom, patron saint of Preachers, was an important Early Church Father who served as Archbishop of Constantinople. He is known for his preaching and public speaking, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders, his Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom, and his ascetic sensibilities. Chrysostom was among the most prolific authors in the early Christian Church.

Today, the Church celebrates the Memorial of StJohn Chrysostom (347-407). St. John was born in Antioch. With St. Athanasius, St. Gregory Nazianzen and St. Basil, he forms the group of the four great doctors of the Eastern Church. As Archbishop of Constantinople, his courageous stance against the vices of even the wealthy caused him to be exiled several times. In 407, he died while in in exile.



The word 'Chrysostom' means 'golden mouthed. ' This name was given to him for his preaching and public speaking skills, his denunciation of abuse of authority by both ecclesiastical and political leaders.


Saint John Chysistom taught against cruelty, tyranny, war, and bloodshed, maintaining that it is altogether improper for Christians to wage war and that peace and quiet are to be taught in the kingdom of Christ.


When he was eighteen, St. John Chrysostom decided to became a monk-hermit, living in a cave, studying the Scriptures, and putting himself under the discipline of an old hermit named Hesychius. However, his health broke under this austere regimen and he returned to Antioch, was ordained a priest, and began his remarkable career as a preacher

During the next twelve years, he electrified Antioch with his fiery sermons, filled with a knowledge and an eloquence that were astonishing. It was during this period that he received the nickname Chrysostom, or golden mouth, for his words seemed to be pure gold. As in the No Good Deed Goes Unpunished, In 397, when the see of Constantinople became vacant, the Emperor Arcadius appointed John patriarch. After a dozen years of priestly service in Syria, John found himself the reluctant victim of an imperial ruse to make him bishop in the greatest city of the empire. Ascetic, unimposing but dignified, and troubled by stomach ailments from his desert days as a monk, John became a bishop under the cloud of imperial politics.


His lifestyle at the imperial court was not appreciated by many courtiers. He offered a modest table to episcopal sycophants hanging around for imperial and ecclesiastical favors. John deplored the court protocol that accorded him precedence before the highest state officials. He would not be a kept man. John found himself in a nest of political intrigue, fraud, extravagance, and naked ambition. He curbed expenses, gave lavishly to the poor, built hospitals, reformed the clergy, and restored monastic discipline.


His zeal led him to decisive action. Bishops who bribed their way into office were deposed. Many of his sermons called for concrete steps to share wealth with the poor. The rich did not appreciate hearing from John that private property existed because of Adam’s fall from grace any more than married men liked to hear that they were bound to marital fidelity just as much as their wives were. When it came to justice and charity, John acknowledged no double standards


Aloof, energetic, outspoken, especially when he became excited in the pulpit, John was a sure target for criticism and personal trouble. He was accused of gorging himself secretly on rich wines and fine foods. His faithfulness as spiritual director to the rich widow, Olympia, provoked much gossip attempting to prove him a hypocrite where wealth and chastity were concerned. His actions taken against unworthy bishops in Asia Minor were viewed by other ecclesiastics as a greedy, uncanonical extension of his authority.

Theophilus, archbishop of Alexandria, and Empress Eudoxia were determined to discredit John. Theophilus feared the growth in importance of the Bishop of Constantinople and took occasion to charge John with fostering heresy. Theophilus and other angered bishops were supported by Eudoxia. The empress resented his sermons contrasting gospel values with the excesses of imperial court life. Whether intended or not, sermons mentioning the lurid Jezebel and impious Herodias were associated with the empress, who finally did manage to have John exiled. The papal envoys were imprisoned, and John — defended by the pope and ordered restored to his see — was sent further into exile, six hundred miles from Constantinople, across the Black Sea. Worn out and sick, he died of his hardships at Comana in Pontus. His last words were, "Glory to God for all things."
—Excerpted from The One Year Book of Saints by Rev. Clifford Stevens

"The present world is a theater, the conditions of men are roles: wealth and poverty, ruler and ruled, and so forth. When this day is cast aside, and that terrible night comes, or rather day—night indeed for sinners, but day for the righteous—when the play is ended, when the masks are removed, when each person is judged with his works, not each person with his wealth, not each person with his office, not each person with his authority, not each person with his power, but each person with his works, whether he is a ruler or a king, a woman or a man, when he requires an account of our life and our good deeds, not the weight of our reputation when the masks are removed, then the truly rich and the truly poor are revealed."

—St. John Chrysostom

Prayer of Saint John Chrysostom

I believe, O Lord, and I confess that thou art truly the Christ, the Son of the living God, who didst come into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. And I believe that this is truly thine own immaculate Body, and that this is truly thine own precious Blood. Wherefore I pray thee, have mercy upon me and forgive my transgressions both voluntary and involuntary, of word and of deed, of knowledge and of ignorance; and make me worthy to partake without condemnation of thine immaculate Mysteries, unto remission of my sins and unto life everlasting. Amen. Of thy Mystic Supper, O Son of God, accept me today as a communicant; for I will not speak of thy Mystery to thine enemies, neither will I give thee a kiss as did Judas; but like the thief will I confess thee: Remember me, O Lord, in thy Kingdom. Not unto judgement nor unto condemnation be my partaking of thy Holy Mysteries, O Lord, but unto the healing of soul and body.

Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is a memorial celebrated on 12 September, to commemorate all the privileges bestowed upon Mary by God and all the graces received through her intercession and mediation. 

Mary's Highest Title: Mother of God: The Council of Ephesus decreed in 431 that Mary is Theotokos ("God-bearer") because her son Jesus is both God and man: one Divine Person with two natures (divine and human). This name was translated in the West as "Mater Dei" or Mother of God.

Meanings ascribed to Mary's name by the early Christian writers and perpetuated by the Greek Fathers include: "Bitter Sea," "Myrrh of the Sea", "The Enlightened One," "The Light Giver," and especially "Star of the Sea." Stella Maris was by far the favored interpretation.

Most Holy Name of Mary Prayer;

“Look to the star of the sea, call upon Mary … in danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your heart … If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err.

It's Not Systemic Racism. It's Systemic Humanism

What the Oregon Food Bank calls "Systemic Racism" is not only a misnomer, it's inflammatory and designed as a call to action for the unconcious.

 Not significantly different from Bob Fertik, President of democrats.com, fund raising mass mailing calling Elon Musk a traitor for endorsing GOP traitors. Or the Southern Poverty Law Center calling Catholics domestic terrorists.  Or the Department of Justice and the Teachers Unions calling parents who speak up during school board meetings domestic terrorists.

You see, there's no such a thing as "systemic racism",   If anything, it's systemic humanism:  systemic search for power and wealth, no matter the cost.  Urs von Balthasar calls it an Ego-Drama.

Hans Urs von Balthasar  was a Swiss theologian considered to be an important Catholic theologian of the 20th century. Balthasar authored more than 60 books on such diverse topics as the theology of history, the early Christian Church Fathers, classical literature, and modern aestheticism. He wrote much of his early work as a rebuttal to the writings of his friend and rival the Swiss Protestant theologian Karl Barth.

According to Balthasar, we live an Ego-Drama when everything we do revolves around ourselves and no one else; on the contrary, we live a Theo-Drama whenever everything we do revolves around God.


Even before the web log, circa 2003 George W Bush pledged to democratize the Muslim World by providing platforms to  promote free speech, including printed and online media. BigTech, followed suit and  promised to democratize the world by offering free Internet , but it quickly carved out silos monetizing hate and division. The more divisive the post, the more clicks.



Social media and demaguges like to use the term systemic racism, implying hate and division. Yet, while hate is a strong human emotion, it is also irrational and a vice. I posit that a more appropriate name is "systemic humanism" - it's  all about hatred, loathing, dislike, distaste, disgust. Fear, insecurity, ignorance, jealousy, pride. etc. aka a vice - and not just due to skin color.

I have been called every name in the book.  In the Weirdo Capital of the World, aka Portland Oregon, I've been told to "go back to where you came from"? Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

I graduated from High School with honors. but my counselor said I was more qualified to do clerical work. I thought otherwise and obtained a bachelor’s degree in electronics with a minor in Biomedical degree. Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

While attending summer school, I was invited to a pool party in an exclusive area of Del Cerro, CA.  Unbeknownst to me, most of the kids, while I was in the pool, gravitated away from me.  Weeks, perhaps months later, a friend told me why.  System racism or systemic humanism?

Some 20 years later my daughter was told by her counselor to "leave a UCLA college application for someone more deserving."  Unbeknownst to me, she quietly applied and graduated in four years. Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

I've been called stupid, racist, moron, illiterate and white supremacist as a result of my writing.  Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

In the case of systemic humanism, as Hans Urs von Balthasar would put it, we tend to stay away from the Theo-Drama,  we all have a tendency to sin, also known as concupiscience. According to the Catholic Catechism, "sin creates a proclivity to sin; it engenders vice by repetition of the same acts. This results in perverse inclinations which cloud conscience and corrupt the concrete judgment of good and evil. Thus sin tends to reproduce itself and reinforce itself, but it cannot destroy the moral sense at its root. CCC 1865

Whereas vices can be classified according to the virtues they oppose, or also be linked to the capital sins which Christian experience has distinguished, following St. John Cassian and St. Gregory the Great. They are called "capital" because they engender other sins, other vices. They are pride, avarice, envy, wrath, lust, gluttony, and sloth or acedia. CCC 1866

Consider that the college majors that pay the most right after college  are STEM-based. Except for a BS In Race Hustling -  Race Hustling is the highest paid degree: The University of Michigan has 163 DEI officers. Ohio State & U of Virginia have 94. Georgia Tech has 41, but only 13 history teachers. The Highest-paid diversity and inclusion employees rake in substantially more than the average full-time professor.  While the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill offers Racially Exclusive-Programs and Scholarships. Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

What do the daily FBI press releases, the Pandora Papers, the Facebook whistleblower, the IRS abuse of the Tea Party, the Russia Hoax, The  Ukraine Hoax, Edward Snowden, Chelsea Manning, Julian Assange, the January 6th Insurrection have in common with voter fraud? – The common denominator is an inside job.  No wonder an old Muslim proverb warns: The Biggest threat comes from Inside.  In the case of the Pandora Papers, the leaks expose how some of the most powerful people in the world, including more than 330 politicians from 90 countries, use secret offshore companies to hide their wealth. Is this systemic racism or systemic humanism?




Prior to Dr, Fauci, U.S. government doctors thought it was fine to experiment on disabled people, prison inmates, and minorities, such  as  giving hepatitis to mental patients, squirting a pandemic flu virus up the noses of prisoners in Maryland, injecting cancer cells into chronically ill people at a New York hospital, sterilizing Native American women whiteout their consent and notably the Tuskegee trials where for 40 years, the US Public Health Service (PHS) conducted an experiment on African Americans men who suffered from syphilis, lured them under the guise of free medical care and meals but withheld treatment. Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

As Dr. Faucci enters the scene, you may also recall that at the onset of the pandemic, public health officials,  politicians, Legacy Media, Big Tech and  Big Pharma, were in lockstep behind the lockdown-at-all-costs strategy, censoring contrarian views/ research that threatened the status quo. Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

More recently, after the FBI announced that patriotic symbology could be an indicator of domestic terrorism, the DOJ at the urging of teachers unions went after parents who spoke up during school board meetings labeling domestic terrorists.  After it used the Southern Poberty Law Center as a fact Checker, the FBI  determined that Catholic Symbology is an indicator of domestic terrorism.  Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

Clearly if you take away ad hominem attacks, slander, politispeak  and euphemisms, it’s obvious that we have a full on attack on Christianity by Corporate America, including Bud Light, Delta Airlines, NorthFace,  the US Navy, Kohl’s, Major League Baseball, Los Angeles Dodgers, Target, US Soccer, Rapinoe et al. as the White House, DOJ, FBI and Main Stream Media are in lock step to promote the Christo-Fascist, America Is Racist narratives. Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

A 1987 study of  US top executive managers affiliated with 147 firms from both financial and non‐financial sectors in 2005 and 2018 demonstrated that alumni of prestigious universities have a strikingly higher likelihood of attaining a top executive role in finance than in non‐finance.
The findings suggested that
elite groups still dominate the most symbolically valued education, and as a result, top managerial positions. Systemic racism or systemic humanism?


The Institute for Business Ethics reported that in "2018, the highest number of ethical lapses was recorded in the banking and finance sector, followed by the information technology (IT) sector and the professional services sector. Collectively, these three sectors account for nearly a third of the total number of headlines." You may recall that top executives come from elite universities.  Systemic racism or systemic humanism?


According to a piece in the Harvard Business Review titled How Common Is Unethical Behavior on U.S Organizations? The answer is, very: Unethical behavior is not unique to a time or place and it happens in organizations of all types and across industries: The U.S. Army and Central Intelligence Agency personnel was humiliating prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Volkswagen managers cheated on emission standards inspections, and Wells Fargo recently reached a $3 billion settlement after employees opened millions of accounts without customer consent.  In scandals like these, the conversation often turns to individual “bad apples,” but the real culprit is more often the climate of the organizations where unethical behavior happens. Systemic racism or systemic humanism?

Hatred, just like "systemic racism" cannot be eliminated through legislation and will not stop until Jesus second coming. Jesus denounced hatred in all its firms. 2 000 years ago. By recalling the commandment, "You shall not kill," 94 our Lord asked for peace of heart and denounced hatred as immoral. CCC 2302

Deliberate hatred is contrary to charity. Hatred of the neighbor is a sin when one deliberately wishes him evil. Hatred of the neighbor is a grave sin when one deliberately desires him grave harm. "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven." 97 CCC 2303

But guess what happened in the 60s? Progressives kicked God out of the public schools;

Since  SCOTUS (1963)
decided that teaching children about wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety,  fear of the Lord., charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity was too radical - We have mental health crisis
[  ] Infanticide turned into #BlackGenocide
[  ] African American nuclear family has joined the Sea Turtles in the extinct list
[  ]  80% of AA kids are raised in fatherless homes
[  ] We have a fatherlesssness crisis
[  ] A Girlhood Crisis
[  ] A Trans Crisis

While Christians pray daily for world peace, what we are actually praying for is for the end of the world. For Jesus Second Coming. 

Some of us cannot wait that long, so we are tempted to fight systemic racism. or hatred, with hatred and can easily fall prey to the demagogues, corrupt politicians or Propagandists.

Next time someone brings up systemic racism, keep in mind, the ends never justify the means. As the Catholic Catechism states: (1753)  A good intention (for example, that of helping one's neighbor) does not make behavior that is intrinsically disordered, such as lying and calumny, good or just. The end does not justify the means. Thus the condemnation of an innocent person cannot be justified as a legitimate means of saving the nation. On the other hand, an added bad intention (such as vainglory) makes an act evil that, in and of itself, can be good (such as almsgiving).

So, ask yourself these questions;

1.  Are we being asked to fight evil with evil? Who is "we- the good guys" versus "they-the bad guys"

2. Who gets the money to fight the bad guys?

3.  Is this an Ego-Drama or a Theo-Drama?

The Passion of John: The first Christian Martyr

The Passion of  John: The first Christian Martyr. Three early martyrdoms are recorded in the New Testament: John the Baptist in ca. AD 31, Stephen in ca. AD 35 and James the apostle in ca. AD 44, plus countless others that would follow John the Baptist - beheaded for preaching a message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

While John the Baptist was the first Christian Martyr tells of others martyred for their faith on the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.l: The Martyrdom of a Mother and Her Seven Sons is recounted in 2 Mccabees

"It also happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.

One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said: “What do you expect to learn by questioning us? We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”  After the torture and death of the seven children 2 Mccabees continues:
"Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother who, seeing her seven sons perish in a single day, bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord." 

While the faith of Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah along with  Daniel is tested like the Mother and Her Seven Sons, with a different outcome:  The 

Four Hebrew young men from the same tribe, the royal family line of David, are taken into captivity by an invading Babylonian Empire. The goal was to immerse and integrate the captives into all that Babylonian culture entailed with a view to them serving at the King's court, and their Hebrew names are replaced with Chaldean or Babylonian names. Eventually the three Jewish men are thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon for refusing to bow to the king's image, but they remain unharmed. "Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and rose in haste, asking his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” “Certainly, O king,” they answered.

“But,” he replied, “I see four men unbound and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God" - Daniel Chapter 3

Fast forward to the New Testament where Mark in Chapter tells how God sent John the Baptist to prepare the way for Christ: The Preaching of John the Baptist.

2a As it is written in Isaiah the prophet:* b

“Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you;

he will prepare your way.

3c A voice of one crying out in the desert:

‘Prepare the way of the Lord,

make straight his paths.’”

4John [the] Baptist appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

5People of the whole Judean countryside and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem were going out to him and were being baptized by him in the Jordan River as they acknowledged their sins.

6John was clothed in camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist.* He fed on locusts and wild honey.

7And this is what he proclaimed: “One mightier than I is coming after me. I am not worthy to stoop and loosen the thongs of his sandals.

8* d I have baptized you with water; he will baptize you with the holy Spirit.”

John the Baptist was a Jewish prophet of the Jordan River region, celebrated by the Christian church as ‘the Forerunner’ to Jesus Christ.

John preached a message of repentance for the forgiveness of sins and offered a water baptism requiring people to change their hearts, reject sin and return to God. This meant that they had to express sincere sorrow for their sins, pledge to treat their neighbours justly and to show piety towards God. Only once they had done that were allowed to submit to baptism.

Herod Antipas arrested, imprisoned and executed John because he had spoken out against immorality: Herod Antipas, had repudiated his wife in order to marry Herodias. Herod’s first wife was the daughter of King Aretas IV of Nabataea, and their marriage had sealed a peace treaty. With the treaty now broken Aretas waged the war that his daughter’s marriage had been intended to prevent.

According to Mark 6:14-29, John the Baptist was beheaded by the order of Herod Antipas, after a cunning interplay between Herodias and her daughter Salome, according to Flavius Josephus,  (Jewish Antiquities XVIII, 5.4 § 136-137),


In The Antiquities of the Jews (Book 18:116-19), Josephus confirmed that Herod Antipas “slew” John the Baptist after imprisoning him at Machaerus, because he feared John's influence might enable him to start a rebellion.His beheading by Herodias inaugurated the era of Christian martyrs; he was the first witness for the new faith.


In the story of Mark 6 it reads as follows:1

6 14King Herod heard of it, for Jesus' name had become known. Some were saying, 'John the baptizer has been raised from the dead; and for this reason these powers are at work in him'.15 But others said, 'It is Elijah'. And others said, 'It is a prophet, like one of the prophets of old'.16 But when Herod heard of it, he said, 'John, whom I beheaded, has been raised'.17 For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife, because Herod had married her.18 For John had been telling Herod, 'It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife'.19 And Herodias had a grudge against him, and wanted to kill him. But she could not, 20 for Herod feared John, knowing that he was a righteous and holy man, and he protected him. When he heard him, he was greatly perplexed; and yet he liked to listen to him.21 But an opportunity came when Herod on his birthday gave a banquet for his courtiers and officers and for the leaders of Galilee.22 When his daughter Herodias [other translations: The daughter of Herodias] came in and danced, she pleased Herod and his guests; and the king said to the girl, 'Ask me for whatever you wish, and I will give it'.23 And he solemnly swore to her, 'Whatever you ask me, I will give you, even half of my kingdom'.24 She went out and said to her mother, 'What should I ask for?' She replied, 'The head of John the baptizer'.25 Immediately she rushed back to the king and requested, 'I want you to give me at once the head of John the Baptist on a platter'.26 The king was deeply grieved; yet out of regard for his oaths and for the guests, he did not want to refuse her.27 Immediately, the king sent a soldier of the guard with orders to bring John's head. He went and beheaded him in the prison, 28 brought his head on a platter, and gave it to the girl. Then the girl gave it to her mother.29 When his disciples heard about it, they came and took his body, and laid it in a tomb.


John the Baptist, like his predecessors, the mother with seven sons, and the four Hebrew young man in the Book Daniel, trusted that God would delivered them from their enemies as told by Luke Chapter 12:

4I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more.

5I shall show you whom to fear. Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna;* yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.

6Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?* Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.

7Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.d

8I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God.

9But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.e

Greater Than the Greatest: Memorial of St Maximilian Maria Kolbe, priest & martyr

So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love there is no greater love than this: Saint Kolbe laying down his life for a stranger. Saint Kolbe Apostle of Consecration to Mary. Patron Saint of Prisoners, of those struggling against Drug Addiction, Pro-Life Movement, and Radio Reporters.

In the First Epistle to the Corinthians, addressed to the Christian church in Corinth one of the Pauline epistles and part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible Saint Paul the Apostle and co-author, Sosthenes, write in part: "If I speak in human and angelic tongues* but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13

Hope

The Catholic Catechism (1817) defines Hope as the theological virtue by which we desire the kingdom of heaven and eternal life as our happiness, placing our trust in Christ's promises and relying not on our own strength, but on the help of the grace of the Holy Spirit.  (1818 ) The virtue of hope responds to the aspiration to happiness which God has placed in the heart of every man; it takes up the hopes that inspire men's activities and purifies them so as to order them to the Kingdom of heaven; it keeps man from discouragement; it sustains him during times of abandonment; it opens up his heart in expectation of eternal beatitude. Buoyed up by hope, he is preserved from selfishness and led to the happiness that flows from charity. (1819 ) Christian hope takes up and fulfills the hope of the chosen people which has its origin and model in the hope of Abraham, who was blessed abundantly by the promises of God fulfilled in Isaac, and who was purified by the test of the sacrifice. "Hoping against hope, he believed, and thus became the father of many nations." (1820) Christian hope unfolds from the beginning of Jesus' preaching in the proclamation of the beatitudes. The beatitudes raise our hope toward heaven as the new Promised Land; they trace the path that leads through the trials that await the disciples of Jesus. But through the merits of Jesus Christ and of his Passion, God keeps us in the "hope that does not disappoint."88 Hope is the "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul . . . that enters . . . where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf."89 Hope is also a weapon that protects us in the struggle of salvation: "Let us . . . put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation."90 It affords us joy even under trial: "Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation."91 Hope is expressed and nourished in prayer, especially in the Our Father, the summary of everything that hope leads us to desire.

Faith

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego (Hebrew names Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah), along with  Daniel are brought to Babylon to study Chaldean language and literature with a view to them serving at the King's court, and their Hebrew names are replaced with Chaldean or Babylonian names. Eventually the three Jewish men are thrown into a fiery furnace by Nebuchadnezzar II, King of Babylon for refusing to bow to the king's image, but they remain unharmed. "Then King Nebuchadnezzar was startled and rose in haste, asking his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” “Certainly, O king,” they answered.

“But,” he replied, “I see four men unbound and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God" - Daniel Chapter 3

The Martyrdom of a Mother and Her Seven Sons is recounted in 2 Mccabees

"It also happened that seven brothers with their mother were arrested and tortured with whips and scourges by the king to force them to eat pork in violation of God’s law.

One of the brothers, speaking for the others, said: “What do you expect to learn by questioning us? We are ready to die rather than transgress the laws of our ancestors.”  After the torture and death of the seven children 2 Mccabees continues:
"Most admirable and worthy of everlasting remembrance was the mother who, seeing her seven sons perish in a single day, bore it courageously because of her hope in the Lord."


Saint John the Apostle the author of the Johannine Works, (the three Johannine epistles and the Book of Revelation, together with the Gospel of John, are called the Johannine works) in John 15:13 he writes " No one has greater love than this,  to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." Jesus alludes to the sacrifice he's about to make. True love is not a cheap, shallow sentiment; it is costly. When we love others the way Christ loved us, we will need to sacrifice some things or even many things.

The disciples surely missed the true depth of these words in that moment. But after he died on the cross and rose again these words took on a whole new meaning. Jesus showed that “there is no greater love than this” when he laid down his life for us.

 

Maximilian Maria Kolbe OFM was a Polish Catholic priest and Conventual Franciscan friar. In 1941 he was arrested and sent to Auschwitz, where in terrible circumstances he continued to work as a priest and offer solace to fellow inmates. When the Nazi guards selected 10 people to be starved to death in punishment, Kolbe volunteered to die in place of a stranger, a man named Franciszek Gajowniczek.  He died in the German death camp of Auschwitz, located in German-occupied Poland during World War II

He had been active in promoting the veneration of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, founding and supervising the monastery of Niepokalanów near Warsaw, operating an amateur-radio station (SP3RN), and founding or running several other organizations and publications.

So faith, hope, love remain, these three; but the greatest of these is love there is no greater love than this: Saint Kolbe laying down his life for a stranger

Deja Vù - As in the days of Isaiah: Trump charged with QERWNBAD+

Deja Vù - As in the days of Isaiah:  

President Trump is charged with QERWNBAD+

It's not too difficult to see that the persecution of President Trump by his political enemies was foretold by the prophet Isaiah some 3000 years ago.

 'Every time more Biden corruption is exposed his henchmen indict me' - President Trump

Isaiah Chapter 59

1 No, the hand of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.

2 Rather, it is your crimes that separate you from your God, It is your sins that make him hide his face so that he does not hear you.

Nancy Pelosi “is a Wicked Witch whose husband’s journey from hell starts and finishes with her. She is a sick & psycho who will someday live in HELL!” - President Trump

3 For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with crime; Your lips speak falsehood, and your tongue utters deceit.

4 No one brings suit justly, no one pleads truthfully; They trust an empty plea and tell lies; they conceive mischief and bring forth malice.

5 They hatch adders’ eggs, and weave spiders’ webs: Whoever eats the eggs will die, if one of them is crushed, it will hatch a viper;

6 Their webs cannot serve as clothing, nor can they cover themselves with their works.

Their works are evil works, and deeds of violence are in their hands.

7 Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness, violence and destruction are on their highways.

8 The way of peace they know not, and there is no justice on their paths; Their roads they have made crooked,no one who walks in them knows peace.

Psalm 62 was written by King David

from a time of trouble, yet it asks God for nothing. It is full of faith and trust, but has no fear, no despair, and no petition, not unlike the persecution suffered by President Trump

Psalm 62
1 Truly my soul finds rest in God;
    my salvation comes from him.
2 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

3 How long will you assault me?
    Would all of you throw me down—
    this leaning wall, this tottering fence?
4 Surely they intend to topple me
    from my lofty place;
    they take delight in lies.
With their mouths they bless,
    but in their hearts they curse.

5 Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
    my hope comes from him.
6 Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
    he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
7 My salvation and my honor depend on God
    he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people;
    pour out your hearts to him,
    for God is our refuge.

9 Surely the lowborn are but a breath,
    the highborn are but a lie.
If weighed on a balance, they are nothing;
    together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in extortion
    or put vain hope in stolen goods;
though your riches increase,
    do not set your heart on them.

11 One thing God has spoken,
    two things I have heard:
“Power belongs to you, God,
12     and with you, Lord, is unfailing love”;
and, “You reward everyone
    according to what they have done.”

Can you sincerely say this is not what we are all experiencing now with the persecution of President Trump by his political opponents?