HOLY MARTYRS UNITE US

 

In May of this year, Pope Francis  announced that the  21 COPTIC ORTHODOX MARTYRS killed by ISIS in  February 2015 on a beach in Libya, will be added to the Catholic Church’s official list of saints as a sign of unity between the two churches. He also received a relic of the martyrs’ blood as a gift.

Meeting with the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Pope Tawadros II and other Coptic Orthodox representatives at the Vatican May 11, the Holy Father said:  “I am glad to announce today that, with the consent of Your Holiness, these 21 martyrs will be inserted into the Roman Martyrology as a sign of the spiritual communion uniting our two Churches.”

"They were killed simply for the fact they were Christians. The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard.  It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ.”

“May the prayer of the Coptic martyrs, united with that of the Theotokos, continue to grow the friendship between our Churches, until the blessed day when we can celebrate together at the same altar and commune in the same Body and Blood of the Savior, ‘that the world may believe,’”  Pope Francis said.

The sacred icon here I have used before, by my friend by Nikola Sarić . He has an incredible gift of making current events so piercing to the soul- things we would rather not see. (See Blog  May 2016 on his work)