From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
June 2nd - St. Blandina, Martyr
Died in Lyons, France, 177.
The memory of Blandina, a slave, has been preserved in a letter from
the survivors of the persecution of the Church at Lyons (Lugdunum) to
the Church in Asia Minor, which Eusebius recorded in his history. The
letter reports that the official persecutions began with a popular
boycott that prevented Christians from entering=C2 private houses,
baths, and markets. Many Christian masters were accused to the
officials by their slaves who thereby hoped to escape suspicion
themselves.
Through Blandina, ". . . Christ showed that those who in the eyes of
men appear cheap, ugly and contemptible, are treated by God with great
honor because of their love for Him, which displays itself in power
and now mere outward boasting. For while we were all of us trembling
and her earthly mistress . . . was in torment lest Blandina, so frail
in body, should not be strong enough to acknowledge her faith frankly,
the child was filled with such strength that the torturers, who
followed one another in relays and tormented her from morning to night
with every kind of torture, acknowledged that they were beaten and had
nothing more that they could do to her." She repeatedly said, while
being tortured, "I am a Christian, and nothing vile is done amongst
us." She said this because they were accused of incest and cannibalism
(a literal interpretation of Christians' consuming the Body and Blood
of Christ).
Blandina's steadfast faith inspired Sanctus, a quite recent convert,
and strengthened him.
After a time the Emperor said the apostates should be released; the
obstinate executed. Blandina was taken to the amphitheater and
"fastened to a stake as though to a cross; she prayed aloud, giving
much courage to the others, who beheld with their very eyes, by means
of this their sister, Him who had been crucified for them!"
The wild beasts would not touch Blandina, so they put her back in
prison. On the last day, she and Ponticus--a 15 year old, were brought
out (after having watched the others being tortured daily). Ponticus
died first. She was then scourged, burned, tied up in a net and thrown
to a savage bull to be tossed and finally she was killed. After the
bodies rotted for a week, they were cremated, and the ashes thrown
into the Rhone. This occurred under the reign of Marcus Aurelius
(Attwater, Benedictines, Martindale)
In art, Saint Blandina is a martyred maiden with a bull near her;
otherwise the image may include (1) a net and bull; (2) her being
tossed by the bull in the amphitheater; or (3) tied to a pillar with a
lion and bear near her (Roeder). This patroness of servant girls is
venerated in Lyons and Vienne, France (Roeder).
Saint Quote:
"Pray, pray to the Lord with me, because the whole world needs prayer.
And every day, when your heart especially feels the loneliness of life, pra=
y.
Pray to the Lord, because even God needs our prayers."
--St. Pio of Pietrelcina
Bible Quote
O God, when thou didst go forth in the sight of thy people,
when thou didst pass through the desert: 9 The earth was moved,
and the heavens dropped at the presence of the God of Sina,
at the presence of the God of Israel.=C2 (Psalm 67:8-9)
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Prayer
Grant, O Lord, we beseech thee, that we who keep the feast
of the holy martyrs Blandina and her companions may be
rooted and grounded in love of thee, and may endure the
sufferings of this life for the glory that shall be revealed in us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with
thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)