While browsing the shelves at the public library, the book “Quo Vadis” caught my eye. The 600-page novel written in 1896 combines historical facts with early Christian tradition and was made into an epic film in 1951. Since I was only 7 years old when I saw the movie, the only thing I remember is the title, which means: “Where are you going?”
According to the author, the question was posed to Jesus by St. Peter who encountered the Lord carrying his cross while the apostle was fleeing from Rome. Puzzled by the vision, Peter asked the Lord where he was going, to which Jesus replied, “When you abandon my people, I must go to Rome to be crucified once more.”
Filled with remorse, Peter rose from the ground where he had lain prostrate and immediately returned to Rome, where he eventually died a martyr’s death.
The author, Henryk Sienkiewicz, offers a riveting account of the circumstances surrounding the persecution of Christians that emerged as part of early Church tradition. The author, whose book was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, paints a literary portrait of the Roman empire as it existed at the time.
Awash in corruption and debauchery, decadence, injustice and cruelty, Rome was a godless nation despite having numerous temples to countless gods whom its citizens worshipped out of fear. Blinded by pride, ignorance and evil, they couldn’t imagine a God of love who died a horrible death to save sinners, nor could they tolerate those who believed such a God existed.
Their only recourse was to arouse enough animosity toward Christians to justify putting them to death in ways too cruel to imagine. Of course, there were exceptions. Those who were honest with themselves were able to acknowledge the lack of joy and meaning in their lives, and they remain a testimony to the process of conversion when hearts are open to the power of love.
Over the years, much has been written about the persecution of the early Christians. It’s part of our history, but unless we remember who we are, upon whose shoulders we stand, and the price that was paid, we may be at risk for taking our faith for granted.
The early Church was built in part by the death of heroic souls who took literally the words of Jesus that “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains but a single grain, but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (Jn 12:24).
Although the names of some are recorded in the annals of Christian history, thousands of men, women and children were crucified, burned to death or torn apart by wild animals, yet remain unnamed and uncelebrated except in the kingdom of heaven. Though it seemed unfathomable at the time, the Church rose from the very soil that had been watered by the blood of martyrs, proving once again that God’s ways are not our ways.
During November, the Church remembers and honors saints and souls of the faithful who have gone before us. We remember our loved ones, family and friends, but it’s also a time to give thanks for the countless souls whose lives and deaths paved the way for the Church today.
While most of us will never die a martyr’s death, we were all sealed with the sign of the cross at baptism and are called to take up our cross daily just as Jesus said we must. More than 2,000 years later, the cross no longer stands on Calvary, but is embedded in the events of our lives.
It may take the form of broken relationships, serious illness, unemployment, the death of a loved one, to name a few. It may feel like a burden that weighs us down, or it can remain a gnawing ache that threatens to erode the will to persevere in faith. Either way, we are reminded that although pain and suffering are part of the human condition, they are never the end.
As Catholics, we come from a rich tradition of saints to whom we can look for inspiration. It matters little if they lived centuries ago, years ago or are sharing the journey with us. As part of the Communion of Saints, past and present, they remind us that if we remain faithful to the end, we will be able to say with St. Paul, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7).
May the strength and perseverance of the martyrs be ours this day and forever!