Vincenzo at SanctePater keeps churning out incredibly wonderful posts. THIS ONE filled me with humble thanksgiving for the majestic goodness and kindness of Mary’s Son as manifested by selfless laity for priests. The love that many of the laity have for the priesthood, right to death, to glorious martyrdom, is awesome. The great martyr in THIS POST brought a tear to the eyes. I’m wondering if we’ll need any of those priest holes in times to come…
The priest-holes of persecution and martyrdom
Filed under martyrdom, Persecution
Accompany me, Father George David Byers, S.S.L., S.T.D., as I begin life as a Catholic Priest-Hermit by choice. Holy Souls Hermitage is dedicated to the sanctification of my fellow priests, bishops, deacons & seminarians going through the purgatory of this life or the next. Prayer and sacrifice go up, of course, for both Benedict XVI and the next Successor of Saint Peter. 
I am blessed to have read this article at this hour of the morning.
Who knows; we may need to create such priest holes in future when I look at the situation in Nigeria and many other countries.
It is encouraging that many laity have that real love for the priests.
Owen is such a great Saint. I was particularly touched by reading this:
“The Jesuits were taken to London, and Owen was put into Marshalsea Prison before being moved to the Tower to be tortured. The king’s men realized they had the only person who knew the location of the hiding places and residences of priests all over the kingdom. They were eager to force him to uncover the Catholic underground, but he was even more firm that he would not betray those whom he had spent so much time protecting. He was tortured on the rack for hours a day, several days in succession but maintained his silence. In frustration the torturers kept adding weight to his feet but went beyond all limits. On March 1 his abdomen burst open and his intestines spilled out. Owen lingered on for one painful day before dying in the early hours of March 2. The rack-master tried to cover his behavior, excessive even under the harsh standards of the day, by saying that the Jesuit had committed suicide. Clever and hard-working in his life, Nicholas Owen remained courageous and faithful in his death.”
Father, I believe N. America is on the brink of horrendous suppression of Christianity. It has been the works for quite some time but the climax will be soon. The small remnant of true followers of Jesus Christ will be tested on our faithfulness and love of God and man. These Martyrs of old give us courage and hope.
The days of hiding behind walls, in attics, etc. are gone. Man has developed technology so nothing and no one can hide. We are in the midst of being chipped, photographed… documented files on every man, women, child and creature…who you are, what you are, your activities, profiling, etc. Video cameras on every corner, in cell phones that are being tracked. We were afraid of terrorism. We allowed “them” to do this to us.
Now our religious freedoms are on the eve of being squelched by blatant persecution. The president of the U.S. set the ground work by signing into law a few weeks ago, the terrorist detention of anyone suspected of terrorism. Wow…that covers a lot of evils.
All seems to be lost! NO!!…the Church of God will not be overcome! But it seems like a hopeless situation…WELL, maybe to the man who does not believe in God’s goodness and mercy.
Let us review what we have been given by God. Read the bible…the Word of God. For example, in the time of Moses it is relayed to us how God was present to the Hebrew people in their battles. Read something more recent, such as the 6 day war of the Statehood of Israel; WWII and St. Padre Pio; the war that came to the door of Medjugorje…just to quickly name a few examples during my lifetime. God covered these people with His arm of protection and made the people invisible to the enemy. There were so many reports of the presence of Angels of God helping the soldiers in the 6 day war in Israel that journalists were in awe of what they heard. Let us review the Rosary…WWII Japan, men of God survived the nuclear bomb because they prayed the Rosary everyday. Brazil 1962…the communists tried to take over the country. The ladies in that country banded together, armed with the Rosary prayed out loud in a demonstration in Sao Paulo that destroyed communion in a revolution that made history in that country. Our Blessed Mother said that the Rosary can change things and stop wars. What about Jesus, Himself in the Holy Eucharist. St. Clare was told that an army was advancing on her town ready to destroy them. She took Jesus, in the Holy Eucharist and held Him up for all to see and the soldiers fled and the town as saved. There is so many stories of the Glory of God that all the books in world would not hold it all.
The way I see it…Satan and his followers should be the ones shaking in their boots! Have faith people! We are sort of forgetting that God is with us and He has fortified us with the Eucharist, armed us with the Rosary and strengthened us with the Word of God to guide us in all our ways. Satan is trying to divide and conquer and have us think we are alone. But we’re not alone…through prayer, the sacraments of the church, we are united world wide in spirit with the Holy Trinity, the Holy Family, the angels and saints against evil. There are all types of martyrs…even living martyrs. I think the church refers to them as White Martyrs. The laity, through the grace of God, need to protect the priesthood and we need to respond to the call of the Holy Spirit. God is calling….COME. All I can suggest is boot up… get on your knees in prayer, pray the Rosary, celebrate the Mass, keep pure through the confession and hang onto God’s coat tails and see where He goes. Bless you all…