#young christian martyr

[sictransitgloriamvndi]

[leahlisabeth]

Real question:

Put your denomination in the tags if yes!

[pmamtraveller]

THE DEAD MINER /1867/ by CHARLES CHRISTIAN NAHL.

The painting illustrates the danger frequently linked with life and work on the frontier. The miner is depicted lying on the ground in a lifeless state, holding a portrait of his sweetheart with a romanticized touch. His faithful dog grieves next to him.

This is a romanticized view of death in the 19th century, especially during the California Gold Rush. This style of painting focuses on the sacrifice of the miner, depicting him as a martyr for progress. It conforms to contemporary values that glorify noble suffering and the tragic beauty of death. This era frequently portrayed death in a peaceful and dignified manner, often idealizing it.

When Nahl made this piece, he was fully involved in depicting the mining culture of California, which had transitioned from the initial gold rush frenzy to a more contemplative era. At this point, the excitement of the gold rush had diminished, and Nahl started portraying the miners' challenges and sacrifices. His time working as a miner and artist in California shaped his artistic concentration on subjects of loss and loyalty.

The painting's examination of death and suffering indirectly connects to tuberculosis, reflecting the 19th-century epidemic. In this era, tuberculosis, also known as "consumption," was idealized in art as a sickness that impacted the young and creative individuals, frequently portrayed in a manner that highlighted grace and beauty in passing.

[sugar-grigri]

Recipe for creating God! In just 9 steps by Barem Bridge

Let's turn things upside down this time. I'll start directly with the conclusion and we'll work our way back.

My conclusion: Barem wants to create a god.

Step 1: create commitment, it's important to go about it the opposite way round, get followers (focus on the young if you want to make a mark on a generation), set up a real infrastructure with even prophets who look like followers but are superior, the great chosen ones!

Step 2: Sow chaos. This is important to make people understand the need for a great savior. Make the icon a sin, and pretending to be a savior a sin too. Don't hesitate to contact the fire demon for help.

Step 3: make sure that whoever is to be your deity is alone, has no one close to him and is very lonely. Worse, becoming himself is his only answer. Don't hesitate to do it in front of a big sacrificial fire. For best results, break what little sane spirit remains in your deity. What god can be sane? That's not what we ask of them!

Step 4: You can take inspiration from other bases you know, take inspiration from the Christian area. Not all men believed in Jesus, and Jesus was tortured. That's a good thing, because it has a double benefit. Firstly, if your deity doesn't close himself off to humans, it'll show his great wisdom, but above all, if he can be resurrected, it makes it easier to create his myth.

Step 5: Next, trust the elements that are simmering in your heart: a little loneliness, betrayal, grief, physical pain. Trust the torment of the story so that your hero's only hope is dashed. Did he believe in sex? Let him be further tormented so he understands that it won't make him happy, but also unhappy. And then you get something interesting, a martyr.

Step 6: You have your martyr, and your preparation allows his suffering to be properly directed. His sexual assault? His grief? It's important that it doesn't make him want to live. A god doesn't live, humans do. But God is simply there. He exists in himself. Never dies, but never lives either. Above all, make sure that the gap between him and mankind widens a little. Let the misunderstanding between him and mortals deepen.

Step 6: You need an antagonist, an opposing force. Focus on one of his loved ones, like Lucifer, the angel who once carried the light, who also symbolizes hope. But make him a traitor, a source of violence, a monster who doesn't feel sadness. Careful, we're talking about a pebble here, a betrayal, but it takes much more to create Le Diable.

Step 7: Keep your god under control, as his torments could destabilize him. You're the one in charge, so you've got the situation under control. Be confident in your abilities. Trust your ingredients.

As fish and sushi symbolize hope, your divinity no longer looks at them. The hand is an enigma for your divinity, a symbol of prayer, of the link with others, of its humanity, but a hand that is also cruel, violent, devastating yet gentle, yet playing on buried desires. Human complexity lies in this hand. It is the barrier that separates your divinity from the rest of the world. This symbol of rapprochement. And distance. Let him still believe in this hand. This possibility of being normal. Still keep your divinity under wraps.

Step 8: But don't forget to feed it. Put the fish aside and take back what the bird brings you. You know, that light bird that's also a weight, symbolizing your relationship with others, especially what they think. Worrying too much about this enchanting bird can lead to tragedy, just as hoping to hear all the songs will make you look like a heretic - you can't be a god. There is only one. Chainsaw Man.

No… All you can do is beg. Pray. Like a mere mortal.

It's vital that your divinity feeds on these unborn thoughts, they're not even birds. They're just eggs. Only God can eat them, as an omniscient being.

And there you have your divinity, a beautiful dish, but what exactly is it for? Several things.

Tasting: You created light, so you created shadow. Or rather, the absence of light. To create this being of darkness, this being must be completely hermetic to this being of light, opposed, closed, above all: it must feel betrayed and abandoned by it. The absence of light is none other than Lucifer, the former bearer of light and God's right-hand man.

And there you have it: for your divinity to have access to Lucifer and oppose him, it has to accept its role as a divinity. Adapt to it. And so, finally, accept your role as savior.

Savior from what? From the apocalypse!

By doing so, you protect humanity and contribute to your ideal.

ET VOILÀÀÀ you have your champion!!!!! God? Chainsaw Man? Noooo, God himself is an ingredient.

Step 10: Wish the God Devil bon appétit

[luznanq]

-The young martyr, 1885, by Paul Delaroche.

originally made for a young Christian girl, thrown in the Tiber River by the Romans when she refused to deny her faith.

[religious-extremist]

The Hundred Thousand Martyrs of Tbilisi

In 1227 Sultan Jalal al-Din of Khwarazm and his army of Turkmen attacked Georgia. On the first day of the battle the Georgian army valorously warded off the invaders as they were approaching Tbilisi. That night, however, a group of Persians who were living in Tbilisi secretly opened the gates and summoned the enemy army into the city.

According to one manuscript in which this most terrible day in Georgian history was described: “Words are powerless to convey the destruction that the enemy wrought: tearing infants from their mothers’ breasts, they beat their heads against the bridge, watching as their eyes dropped from their skulls.…”

A river of blood flowed through the city. The Turkmen castrated young children, raped women, and stabbed mothers to death over their children’s lifeless bodies. The whole city shuddered at the sound of wailing and lamentation. The river and streets of the city were filled with death.

The sultan ordered that the cupola of Sioni Cathedral be taken down and replaced by his vile throne. And at his command the icons of the Theotokos and our Savior were carried out of Sioni Cathedral and placed at the center of the bridge across the Mtkvari River. The invaders goaded the people to the bridge, ordering them to cross it and spit on the holy icons. Those who betrayed the Christian Faith and mocked the icons were spared their lives, while the Orthodox confessors were beheaded.

One hundred thousand Georgians sacrificed their lives to venerate the holy icons. One hundred thousand severed heads and headless bodies were carried by the bloody current down the Mtkvari River.

O ye thousands of stars, the chosen people guarding the Georgian Church with your golden wings, intercede for us always before the face of God!

[lostjudgmnt]

according to tradition, Christians all over the world today and tomorrow (december 28 for the west and 29 for the east) will honor the Feast of the Holy Innocents — a day during which we remember the infants and young children from West Bank, Palestine who are believed to have been slaughtered by the oppressive regime that was occupying Palestine at that time, over 2,000 years ago, as the king appointed by the occupation attempted to kill the baby Jesus, who he feared would overthrow him.

now, as i honor the Feast of the Holy Innocents, i think not only of the children martyred then, but also of those who have martyred since and are being martyred now. especially in the last two years, infants and children (as well as their families, relatives, and neighbors) are being slaughtered just the same, killed by air strikes, violence, hunger, dehydration, illness and cold, and the hands of oppression and occupation. just as i pray for the children who died all those years ago, i pray for the children who have died in the past 70 years, the past 10, the past 2.

it is believed that, to escape the violence, Mary took the child Jesus and fled to Egypt for asylum. as i think of this, i remember all the people and families of Palestine trying desperately to flee, to bring their children and families to safety, in just the same way.

if you are Christian and honor the Feast of the Innocents, i ask that you say a special prayer for the people of Palestine today, as they suffer in the same way the Palestinian people — including Mary and Jesus themselves — suffered all those years ago. i ask you to think of them, and if you are able, to help them in whatever way you can; ideally, by supporting them financially, but also by spreading awareness.

even if you are not Christian, i still urge the same. please donate to Palestinian families and children until the occupation ends, but especially in these next couple of days.

gaza funds. palestinian children’s relief fund. gaza soup kitchen.

if anyone has any links to aid families in the West Bank, please add them in reblogs and i will add them to this post.

[grecoromanyaoi]

rome 2024 masterpost ❤️🇮🇹(+i couldve sworn there was a colloseum emoji but whatevs). we mostly saw stuff we learned abt - we took the medieval european + byzantine art course together, n i took one abt greek n roman art as well. ill try to keep it 1 reblog per day. day 1 was mostly The Worst Flight In History so. day 2, churchravaganza - santa maria maggiore / santa pudenziana / the mausoleum of santa costanza / santa maria in trastevere (w gio ❤️) / temple of portunus

under readmore bc i go on extremely long tangents but hey. blorbo from my degree!

santa maria maggiore (432) - the arc depicts events from jesus's life, like the annunciation. in the top center u can see the empty throne to which he is supposed to return, on which there is a bejewled throne. u can also see depictions of jerusalem and bethlehem (which r named), under each there r 6 sheep, representing the 12 disciples. the walls are decorated w mosaics of events from abraham and joshua's life. the pic i took (n learned abt) is the angels visiting abraham and sarah.

santa pudenziana (5th century) - the apse mosaic depicts jesus preaching to his disciples, and is visually very dependent and based on pagan depictions of a symposium. behind petrus and paulus are the martyred sisters pudentiana and praxedes, who some say are supposed to represent the dual origins of the early christian communities - the christian community of jewish origin, and the one of pagan origin. st pudentiana is apparently the patron saint of the phillipines, and the church is associated w filipinos.

the mausoleum of santa costanza (325-350) - dedicated by constantine to his daughter, constantina. constantina in italian - costanza (yes i was thinking abt george the entire time). the mosaics were made before the decision on the "standard" depiction of jesus in the same building, one as light haired and young and one as older and dark haired (christos twinkos and christos dilfos, as we call them in academia)

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Dorothy

Died 311

Feast Day: February 6

Patronage: horticulture; brewers; brides; florists; gardeners; midwives; newlyweds; love

Saint Dorothy lived in Caesarea (Turkey) during the Diocletian persecution of Christians. Legend has it, that she was ordered to sacrifice to the pagan gods and refused. On the way to her execution, a young lawyer, Theophilus, mockingly asked her for “fruits and flowers from the garden” in which she proclaimed was in heaven. A basket of fruit and flowers was delivered to her by an angel that she gave to young Theophilus, who then converted and was also martyred. That’s why she’s the patron saint of florists.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase here: (website)

[blushcoloreddreams]

Reasons to pray Saint Therese of Liseaux’s novena

Today September 22nd St. Thérèse starts (as October 1st is her feast day) and I decided to share a bit about the devotion to this Saint. Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face was a French carmelite nun who is known for her beautiful writings and her simple and practical approach to spiritual life which she called “the little way”. She came from a Saint family and joined the carmelite at age 15, she died at a young age but had a profound impact in the world through her writings that preaches about a spirituality based on trust in God and a desire to do small things with great love

Her intercession is asked for making important decisions (like discernment in vocation, engagement and religious vocation, which college to attend…), for healing (yours or of a loved one), to find a holy spouse, help with finding employment/new job / career, an increase in virtue(humility like her little way, chastity, piety, courage, grace to follows God’s will), conversion of loved ones , and for urgent or seemingly impossible requests.

Roses are often asked for as a sign of her intercession since she said, "When I die I will send down a shower of roses from the heavens." I have heard from so many of my friends who are devout to her of answered prayers that have come through the sign of receiving a rose

Even Pope Francis has prayed the Novena Rose Prayer, he said, "When I don't know how things are going to go, I have a custom of asking St Therese of the Child Jesus to take the problem into her hands and that she send me a rose."

Her novena is a shorter one with a starter prayer and 24 glories in homage to the 24 years she spent on earth and each day after finishing praying one “Hail Mary” and one “Our Father”.

On the first day we pray for the sanctification of Clergy. In the second for the missionaries worldwide and their necessities either spiritual or material and on the third for the Christians that are persecuted and martyrs. The intention for the fourth day is for the union and sanctification of families. In the 5th we pray for the depressed, for the oppressed and for those that lack direction in their lives while on the 6th we pray for the youth. In the 7th for the sick and so we can have a heart full of God’s love, the 8th we pray for prisoners and those incarcerated inside themselves by sin and on the last day we pray for the nonbelievers.

[anshiiiiin]

Hi!! You're an incredible artist! I hope you won't think it's rude, but I was wondering what draws you to guro? I like whump and horror, but guro is often too much for me, and I'm curious about your point of view!

If it's too personal, you don't have to answer!

thank you so much for your kind words! i don't think your message is rude, thank you for asking in such a nice way. sorry for a long text, hope its not too TMI

i was drawn to the themes of suffering and torture for as long as i remember. as a kid i was spending a lot of time in the orthodox church and i was absolutely fascinated by the stories of christian martyrs, and would daydream endlessly about their violent deaths, imagining myself in their place. I told my parents several times that i dream of being a martyr and how sad i am that its not those times anymore. my parents were happy to hear it, and thought it showed how devoted to christ i am. i was drawing people tortured and in prisons, and below i would write "suffer for christ" or "this is what happens to non-believers". when i did pretend play, i suggested my mom to play "kitty" with me, where i play as a kitty, and she beats me up. Violence and forms of suffering were always on my mind as i was growing, and i am still fascinated and drawn to it.

as to why i was drawn to this from the start, i am not sure. maybe it's because i was beaten and degraded/abused a lot and mixed love for my parent with the pain it was giving me. maybe it's how my mental illness manifested itself when i was young, or maybe that's just how my brain is wired

right now i am well medicated and lead a very calm non-self-destructive life. i am happy that i can express my violent ideas in art instead of seeking death irl :>

[galleryofart]

The Young Martyr

Artist: Paul Delaroche (French, 1797–1856)

Genre: History

Date: 1855

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Collection: Louvre Museum, Paris, France

Description

The Young Martyr represents both Delaroche's emphasis on historical accuracy and flair for drama and emotionality in painting as it depicts the historical martyrdom of a Christian woman, while, at the same time, an otherworldly halo, emanating above the Martyr's forehead, emphasizes the painting's dramatic, emotional effect.

in The Young Martyr begins in the upper left-hand corner of the painting, where the figures of a man and a woman, embracing each other in terror upon seeing the drowned Christian, are barely visible. As the sun sets behind the couple, the last rays of light point directly across the painting towards the Martyr.

The Martyr's hands are bound by rope, as she gently floats upon the surface of the Tiber. With her body erect (potentially suggesting the rigor mortis), the Martyr, appears both dead and alive. Delaroche details around the Martyr's right hand small, delineated ripples, barely emanating from around the crests of the Martyr's fingers.

Directly above the head of the Martyr is a halo. The Martyr's halo, precise and crisp, appears surreal in contrast to the rest of the painting; furthermore, this halo helps to stage The Young Martyr as it exists as the primary source of light for the otherwise dimly lit Christian.

[xdivinedecay]

✧ Saint Cecilia — patron saint of musicians

November 22nd is the feast day for Saint Cecilia, a Roman martyr from the second century A.D., a time when being Christian earned persecution from the Roman empire. Born into wealth, she devoted her life to modesty and religious practices, including invoking saints and angels. She promised her life to Christ, dedicating herself to Him as his bride. When she was married to a young nobleman named Valerian, she endured a deep spiritual experience during the wedding ceremony. It is said that she "sang a hymn in her heart" to God. Once they were married, she admitted to Valerian that she was a Christian and had taken a vow of chastity for Christ, for which an angel had been dispatched to protect her and the commitment she had made. When Valerian asked her to show him this angel, she told him he must go to the Pope, who was in hiding at the time, to commit himself to the faith of one God, and be baptized. When Valerian did as he was told and returned to his Cecilia, he saw the presence of the angel at his wife's side, bestowing a crown of lilies and roses on her head. Not only did Cecilia manage to convert her husband in her lifetime, but through Valerian her brother-in-law, Tiburtius, converted to Christianity. This was the start of a prolific era for Cecilia, who is said to have converted hundreds of people to Christianity while she was alive, with the aid of her husband and brother-in-law. In fact, it was in doing this and being active in the hidden Christian community at the time that resulted in their martyrdom for their faith.

Executing Cecilia was no small feat either, surviving her first execution sentence and living for days through the second, for which she was said to spend the time preaching for the Christians that came to see her, and sang hymns until she no longer could.

Saint Cecilia is known as the patron saint of music, musicians, body purity, and is said to be originally associated with the organ despite often being depicted with other musical instruments in art.

There is so much more to know about her, some of it brutal and all of it fascinating, including her story after her death. I recommend this page if you want to learn more! (CW: death effigy at the top of the page, depictions of execution and suffering.)

You can honor her today by listening to your favorite music and deepening your connection with the Divine.

my lists of patron saints — Patron Saints for your problems • Patron Saints for World Mental Health Day • Patron Saint for US election aftermath

divider made by animatedglittergraphics-n-more

[kindsoulbuddy]

The thing about praise and worship music at church is that

It’s catchy

Repetitive simple lyrics

It’s played on repeat every Sunday

So even though I’ve been deconstructing for years from evangelicalism, most days praise and worship music from my youth plays in my head.

So every once in a while I’ll sing to myself something joyful like “I got peace like a river I got peace like a river I got peace like a river in my soul!” 🎶

Or maybe “ Better is one day in your courts than thousands elsewhere!” 🎶

Or maybe something peaceful like “As the deer panteth for the water so my soul longeth after Thee…”🎶

Mostly it doesn’t bother me.

But then 90s/Y2K Christian pop music gets stuck in my head.

Like sometimes Rebecca St. James lyrics go through my head like this one glorifying purity culture:

“I am waiting for, praying for you darling! Wait for me too, wait for me as I wait for you! Darling Wait!”

Or you know just songs from DC Talk..

“What if I stumble, what if I fall? What if I lose my step and I make fools of us all?”

Or

“There’s no time to change your mind, the Son has come and you’ve been left behind.”

I think about the awful Rapture Anxiety I had for years and years…

And then i think about being in youth group and yes the fun times but also the moments when we had alter calls.

And the crying and sobbing. The speaking in tongues. The teenagers falling on their faces.

The sensationalized, sometimes violent “Human Videos” (just look up human videos on YouTube there are many).

Teens vowing to die for Christ.

When the Columbine shooting happened all we heard about were the apocryphal stories of students being martyred for Jesus.

I wondered “will a shooter come into our church today and ask us to deny Christ or be shot? What will I do if that happens??”

And what if I lose my salvation just because I had doubts? And what if I get possessed by a demon?

Not to mention purity culture and what it does to a young girl. (All kids suffered but we girls had to be modest and never cause any man to stumble by looking at our shoulder or something)

Abstinence class and signing a pledge to remain a pure virgin until my wedding night.

All the teenagers in every youth group were running around with raging hormones and couldn’t do anything about it. So a lot of us got married quickly. (I was engaged at 19, married at 21).

I mean I’m not even getting into young earth creationism or anti-gay rhetoric or pro life marches, etc..

But you can see that so much of my life (as good as it was for the most part, I was fortunate)was fear based?

And the thing is most of the people (congregation, I can’t speak for all the pastors and church leaders) at church didn’t mean for it to happen that way.

See, I was taught that there is freedom in Christianity. But why didn’t I feel free? That must mean my faith is weak, right?

It’s just so exhausting.

And I went to church regularly for my first 33 years of life. I volunteered, I taught Sunday school classes. I was trying to do it the right way.

Then Covid 19 happened.

I was forced to stop going to church for the first time in my life.

And honestly for years before this I was deconstructing. What really sped this process along was a certain Orange president and his very un-Christianlike followers.

And like Paul in the book of Acts, the scales fell off my eyes. I was blind but now could see. Really see.

The way my Christian peers were acting. The way they refused vaccines and even wearing masks. The cult-like behavior toward Donald Trump. The Christian nationalists.

And after a few months of no church…I realized I didn’t miss it.

After 2020, my deconstruction days really took off. I still don’t go to church (outside of a few weeks trying a gay-affirming congregation).

I used to compulsively pray.

And for hours i would pore over the scriptures trying to glean special meaning. Taking copious notes deep into the night.

(have OCD and I now realize that this brand of religion made my OCD symptoms so much worse.)

But it’s weird…

I have religious trauma. I’m learning about how I was literally in a cult. I’m still trying to unlearn stuff. I still get fearful sometimes about “what if I’m wrong?”.

But I still have good memories of growing up in church. Just like how I still sing old church songs in my head.

I’ve been to many churches, but I grew up in a small country church. I knew it like the back of my hand. It’s how I met some of my best friends and in turn, it’s how I met my husband of 17 years.

I can’t say I regret it. Like anything in life it’s complicated and complex.

I miss the social aspect of church too. I’ve never found another social space like it. I’ve tried! I can’t figure out any other “3rd place” that resembles it.

I’m not sure why i wrote so much down except to say i know a lot of people understand where I’m coming from.

In the meantime, I like to go on r/fundiesnarkuncensored, also i watch Fundie Fridays on YouTube…and I do quite a bit of reading on the subject of others who left the church. Recently I just read Tia Levings’ new book “the Well Trained Wife.”

I’m more at peace about it.

But I think my complex feelings and even some doubts will follow me forever.

[monstrousgourmandizingcats]

Happy All Saints' Day to people who we are told received the spiritual espousals; hermits who live with their mothers; name saints of Llandaff cathedral who were never "bishop of Llandaff"; objects of a great and universal popular veneration; remarkable examples of the Christian type of complete "other-worldliness" united with the most capable "practicality"; entirely mythical personages round whom centre some of the most obviously false and preposterous of pseudo-pious romances; sisters who were probably martyred in Italy; people whose brothers try to get them released on the ground that they are out of their minds but who show clearly that they are not and suffer with the rest; young women of Parma who narrowly escape being tried for sorcery; some of the greatest, most attractive, and most widely appreciated women whom the world has ever known; official shorthand-writers; people who have had some very strange experiences, and periodically recurring stigmata, and are often in a state of ecstasy; people killed by the Danes while exhorting them to behave themselves; people who are learned, benevolent, and surpassingly good, beloved by old and young, rich and poor; and people who are quite illiterate but so endowed with wisdom that they are often consulted by educated men.

[cruger2984]

THE DESCRIPTION OF SAINT PAUL MIKI AND 26 COMPANIONS Feast Day: February 6

"I am not from the Philippines. I am a Japanese and a Jesuit Brother… Having arrived at this moment of my existence, I believe that no one of you thinks I want to hide the truth. That is why I have to declare to you that there is no other way of salvation than the one followed by Christians. Since this way teaches me to forgive my enemies and all who have offended me. I willingly forgive the king and all those who have desired my death. And I pray that they will obtain the desire of Christian baptism." -St. Paul Miki

The first martyr of Japan, Paul Miki was born to a wealthy Japanese family circa 1562 in Settsu, Osaka Prefecture in Kansai region. At a young age, he entered the Society of Jesus and preached the Gospel successfully.

The church had been implanted in Japan fifty years earlier, and counted over 200,000 Christians. In 1588, the Emperor claimed that he was 'God,' and ordered all Christian missionaries to leave the country within six months. Some of them obeyed, but Paul and many others remained secretly behind.

In 1597, Paul was discovered and arrested along with twenty-five companions. They endured tortures and derision through several towns, with their left ears cut off, before being taken to Nagasaki. After making their confession, they were fastened to their crosses, with iron collars around their necks.

Their valor and bravery were wonderful to behold. They gave thanks to God by singing Psalms 25 and repeating: 'Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my life.'

Standing in the noblest pulpit of the cross, Paul said to the people: 'I am a Japanese by birth, and a Jesuit by vocation. I am dying for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I do gladly pardon the Emperor, and all who have sought my death. I beg them to seek baptism and be Christians themselves.'

Then, four executioners unsheathed their spears and killed all of them in a short time. Their faces were serene, while they kept repeating: 'Jesus, Mary!'

On June 8, 1862, Pope Pius IX canonized him and his twenty-five companions.