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June 30 First Martyrs Of The Church Of Rome. The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome were Christians martyred in the city of Rome during Nero's persecution in 64. The event is recorded by both More
June 30 First Martyrs Of The Church Of Rome.

The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome were Christians martyred in the city of Rome during Nero's persecution in 64. The event is recorded by both Tacitus and Pope Clement I, among others. They are celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church as an optional memorial on 30 June.
This feast first came into the General Roman Calendar in the 1969 calendar reforms. The intention of the feast is to give a general celebration of early Roman martyrs. Prior to the calendar reforms, there were dozens of relatively minor Roman martyrs celebrated or commemorated in the calendar. Several of these had scant historical evidence, but did benefit from immemorial tradition. This feast is a replacement for the many Roman martyr feasts, whose absence allowed for a less cluttered and more "dies natale" based sanctoral calendar of more major saints. It also permitted the greater celebration of ferias, partially enacting the Second Vatican Council's call for the Proper of Time to take a greater precedence. All of the early Roman martyrs retain their place in the Martyrology and can be celebrated in local calendars or privately unless impeded by a greater observance.
The placement of the feast is directly after the Solemnity of SS Peter and Paul, who are the principal patron saints of Rome. The subsequent martyrs are associated with this patronage. The feast day was formerly occupied with a Commemoration of St. Paul, and fell in the Octave of SS Peter and Paul.
Irapuato
Monday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Amos 2:6-10.13-16.

Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals.
They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way. Son and father go to the same prostitute, profaning my …More
Monday of the Thirteenth week in Ordinary Time
Book of Amos 2:6-10.13-16.

Thus says the LORD: For three crimes of Israel, and for four, I will not revoke my word; Because they sell the just man for silver, and the poor man for a pair of sandals.
They trample the heads of the weak into the dust of the earth, and force the lowly out of the way. Son and father go to the same prostitute, profaning my holy name.
Upon garments taken in pledge they recline beside any altar; And the wine of those who have been fined they drink in the house of their god.
Yet it was I who destroyed the Amorites before them, who were as tall as the cedars, and as strong as the oak trees. I destroyed their fruit above, and their roots beneath.
It was I who brought you up from the land of Egypt, and who led you through the desert for forty years, to occupy the land of the Amorites:
Beware, I will crush you into the ground as a wagon crushes when laden with sheaves.
Flight shall perish from the swift, and the strong man shall not retain his strength; The warrior shall not save his life,
nor the bowman stand his ground; The swift of foot shall not escape, nor the horseman save his life.
And the most stouthearted of warriors shall flee naked on that day, says the LORD.

Psalms 50(49):16bc-17.18-19.20-21.22-23.

"Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?"

"When you see a thief, you keep pace with him,
and with adulterers you throw in your lot.
To your mouth you give free rein for evil,
you harness your tongue to deceit."

"You sit speaking against your brother;
against your mother's son you spread rumors.
"When you do these things, shall I be deaf to it?
Or do you think that I am like yourself?
I will correct you by drawing them up before your eyes.

"Consider this, you who forget God,
lest I rend you and there be no one to rescue you.
He that offers praise as a sacrifice glorifies me;
and to him that goes the right way I will show the salvation of God.”

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew 8:18-22.
When Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side.
A scribe approached and said to him, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
Another of (his) disciples said to him, "Lord, let me go first and bury my father."
But Jesus answered him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their dead."

Commentary of the day : Blessed Teresa of Calcutta
"The Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head"

dailygospel.org/main.php
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Irapuato
30. Juni (Erste) Märtyrer von Rom
Märtyrer † 64 in Rom
Der Tag erinnert an die Verfolgung der ersten Christen in Rom unter Kaiser => Kaiser Nero.
Im Jahr 54 wurde => Nero zum Kaiser des Römischen Reiches ernannt, nachdem seine Mutter Agrippina die Jüngere wenige Stunden zuvor ihren Onkel und vierten Mann, Kaiser Claudius, hatte vergiften lassen. Die aus Köln stammende Mutter bestimmte die …More
30. Juni (Erste) Märtyrer von Rom

Märtyrer † 64 in Rom
Der Tag erinnert an die Verfolgung der ersten Christen in Rom unter Kaiser => Kaiser Nero.
Im Jahr 54 wurde => Nero zum Kaiser des Römischen Reiches ernannt, nachdem seine Mutter Agrippina die Jüngere wenige Stunden zuvor ihren Onkel und vierten Mann, Kaiser Claudius, hatte vergiften lassen. Die aus Köln stammende Mutter bestimmte die Politik, bis Nero sie 59 auf Betreiben seiner Geliebten ermorden ließ; der Senat beschloss, dafür ein Dankfest abzuhalten. Die Schreckensherrschaft ging aber auch unter Nero weiter, die Bevölkerung sah ihren Kaiser als Anstifter des verheerenden Stadtbrandes im Juni 64 - er wollte wohl damit wohl die in seinen Augen hässlichen alten Häuser und die engen, gewundenen Gassen beseitigen, jedenfalls ließ er sich danach im Herzen von Rom eine riesige Stadtvilla bauen.

Blick auf den Petersdom und Petersplatz, links die 1971 erbaute neue päpstliche Audienzhalle. Grün eingezeichnet ist der ehemalige Zirkus des => Nero, rot der frühere Standort des Obelisken im Zirkus, heute durch eine Steinplatte im Boden gekennzeichnet. Direkt unter der Kuppel des Petersdoms, am Rand des ehemaligen Zirkus', das angebliche Grab von Petrus.
=> Nero bezichtigte die Christen der Urheberschaft und ließ Tausende zur Volksbelustigung in seinem Zirkus - an der Stelle des heutigen Vatikan, der Obelisk steht noch heute im Zentrum des Petersplatzes - hinrichten, darunter der Überlieferung nach Petrus und möglicherweise Paulus. Hieronymus berichtete von 979 solchen Märtyrern. Auch eine daraufhin entstandene Widerstandsgruppe, die Pisonische Verschwörung fiel den Säuberungen zum Opfer, ebenso Neros früherer Freund, der Philosoph Seneca.
Der römische Geschichtsschreiber Tacitus berichtete von dieser Christenverfolgung:
Man machte aus ihrer Hinrichtung ein lustiges Fest: In Tierhäuten steckend, wurden sie entweder von Hunden zerfleischt oder ans Kreuz geschlagen oder angezündet, um nach Eintritt der Dunkelheit als Fackeln zu dienen. Nero hatte seine eigenen Parkanlagen für dieses Schauspiel hergegeben und verband es mit einer Zircusaufführung. In der Tracht der Wagenlenker trieb er sich unter dem Volk umher oder fuhr auf dem Rennwagen. So regte sich das Mitleid mit jenen Menschen. Obwohl sie schuldig waren und die härtesten Strafen verdient hatten, fielen sie ja doch nicht dem Allgemeinwohl, sondern der Grausamkeit eines einzigen zum Opfer. (Annalen 15, 44)
Das Fest wurde erstmals 1923 in Rom gefeiert und 1969 für die gesamte katholische Kirche eingeführt.
Über Neros Regierungsjahre nach dem Tod seiner Mutter berichtet Maike Vogt-Lüerssen auf ihrer Internetseite.
www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienM/Maertyrer_von_R…
Irapuato
Santi Primi martiri della santa Chiesa di Roma Martiri
30 giugno - Memoria Facoltativa
L'odierna celebrazione introdotta dal nuovo calendario romano universale si riferisce ai protomartiri della Chiesa di Roma, vittime della persecuzione di Nerone in seguito all'incendio di Roma, avvenuto il 19 luglio del 64. Perché Nerone perseguitò i cristiani? Ce lo dice Cornelio Tacito nel XV libro degli Annales …More
Santi Primi martiri della santa Chiesa di Roma Martiri
30 giugno - Memoria Facoltativa
L'odierna celebrazione introdotta dal nuovo calendario romano universale si riferisce ai protomartiri della Chiesa di Roma, vittime della persecuzione di Nerone in seguito all'incendio di Roma, avvenuto il 19 luglio del 64. Perché Nerone perseguitò i cristiani? Ce lo dice Cornelio Tacito nel XV libro degli Annales: "Siccome circolavano voci che l'incendio di Roma fosse stato doloso, Nerone presentò come colpevoli, punendoli con pene ricercatissime, coloro che, odiati per le loro abominazioni, erano chiamati dal volgo cristiani".
Ai tempi di Nerone, a Roma, accanto alla comunità ebraica, viveva quella esigua e pacifica dei cristiani. Su questi, poco conosciuti, circolavano voci calunniose. Nerone scaricò su di loro, condannandoli ad efferati supplizi, le accuse a lui rivolte. Del resto le idee professate dai cristiani erano di aperta sfida agli dei pagani gelosi e vendicativi... "I pagani - ricorderà più tardi Tertulliano - attribuiscono ai cristiani ogni pubblica calamità, ogni flagello. Se le acque del Tevere escono dagli argini e invadono la città, se al contrario il Nilo non rigonfia e non inonda i campi, se vi è siccità, carestia, peste, terremoto, è tutta colpa dei cristiani, che disprezzano gli dei, e da tutte le parti si grida: i cristiani ai leoni!".
Nerone ebbe la responsabilità di aver dato il via all'assurda ostilità del popolo romano, peraltro molto tollerante in materia religiosa, nei confronti dei cristiani: la ferocia con la quale colpì i presunti incendiari non trova neppure la giustificazione del supremo interesse dell'impero. Episodi orrendi come quello delle fiaccole umane, cosparse di pece e fatte ardere nei giardini del colle Oppio, o come quello di donne e bambini vestiti con pelle di animali e lasciati in balia delle bestie feroci nel circo, furono tali da destare un senso di pietà e di orrore nello stesso popolo romano. "Allora - scrive ancora Tacito - si manifestò un sentimento di pietà, pur trattandosi di gente meritevole dei più esemplari castighi, perché si vedeva che erano eliminati non per il bene pubblico, ma per soddisfare la crudeltà di un individuo", Nerone. La persecuzione non si arrestò a quella fatale estate del 64, ma si prolungò fino al 67.
Tra i martiri più illustri vi furono il principe degli apostoli, crocifisso nel circo neroniano, dove sorge la basilica di S. Pietro, e l'apostolo dei gentili, S. Paolo, decapitato alle Acque Salvie e sepolto lungo la via Ostiense. Dopo la festività congiunta dei due apostoli, il nuovo calendario vuole appunto celebrare la memoria dei numerosi martiri che non poterono avere un posto peculiare nella liturgia.

Autore: Piero Bargellini
Irapuato
le 30 juin Les Premiers martyrs de l’Église de Rome
Les Premiers martyrs de l’Église de Rome est, suivant l'hagiographie catholique, le nom donné à un groupe indéterminé de chrétiens victimes du premier épisode de persécution des chrétiens qui prend place à Rome entre 64 et 68 à l'instigation de Néron à la suite du grand incendie de Rome.
L'historien Tacite, tout en étant réservé …More
le 30 juin Les Premiers martyrs de l’Église de Rome
Les Premiers martyrs de l’Église de Rome est, suivant l'hagiographie catholique, le nom donné à un groupe indéterminé de chrétiens victimes du premier épisode de persécution des chrétiens qui prend place à Rome entre 64 et 68 à l'instigation de Néron à la suite du grand incendie de Rome.
L'historien Tacite, tout en étant réservé quant à l’origine de l’incendie (« Fut-il dû au hasard ou à la malignité du prince, on ne sait »)[1] rapporte dans ses Annales (XV, 44) que l'empereur était incapable de faire taire la rumeur dévastatrice : « Aucun moyen humain, ni largesses princières, ni cérémonies expiatoires ne faisaient reculer la rumeur infamante d’après laquelle l’incendie avait été ordonné »[2] Les chrétiens - un groupe religieux minuscule, encore mal distingué des juifs[3] - sont choisis comme boucs émissaires : « [Néron] supposa des coupable et infligea des tourments raffinés à ceux que leurs abominations faisaient détester et que la foule appelait ‘Chrétiens’»[4]
Tacite décrit les supplices atroces auxquels les chrétiens sont soumis (et qui ont largement alimenté l’iconographie chrétienne) : « On ne se contenta pas de les faire périr ; on se fit un jeu de les revêtir de peaux de bêtes pour qu’ils fussent déchirés par la dent des chiens, ou bien ils étaient attachés à des croix et enduits de matières inflammables, quand le jour avait fui, ils éclairaient les ténèbres comme des torches… ». Tacite n’a aucune attirance personnelle pour cette « détestable superstition ». Cependant, à la vue de ce spectacle horrible[5] il en vient à éprouver quelque sympathie : « Aussi quoique ces gens fussent coupables et dignes des dernières rigueurs on se mettait à les prendre en pitié ».
Sans se prononcer sur la culpabilité des chrétiens Tacite propose une théorie du bouc émissaire lui permettant de faire ressortir la cruauté et l'arbitraire de l'empereur et non par sympathie pour les chrétiens qui sont amalgamés aux juifs, porteurs à ses yeux d'une même « haine du genre humain »[3].
Suétone mentionne également une persécution au milieu d’une liste de mesures prises par Néron[6] mais sans la lier à l'incendie[7].

Les chrétiens sont peut-être visés après avoir vu dans l'incendie le signe précurseur de l'imminence de la fin du monde : se répandant dans les rues pour appeler à la conversion[réf. nécessaire], tombant ainsi sous le coup du crime de prosélytisme[8], ils auraient ainsi attiré l'attention sur eux[9]. Ils sont condamnés comme incendiaires et subissent une peine réflexive : ils sont eux-mêmes, pour certains, brûlés vifs dans les jardins impériaux ; d'autres sont utilisés pour des jeux de rôle de type mythologiques ou des jeux de chasse, dont est friand le public romain, dans les arènes du cirque du Vatican[9]. Ils sont condamnés en vertu de la lex Cornelia de sicariis et veneficis[10] sans que leur religion ne rentre pour autant en ligne de compte[11]. Ainsi, la justification de cette première persécution par un hypothétique institutum neronianum relève de la légende[10].
Une tradition de la communauté chrétienne de Rome lie dès la fin du Ier siècle à cet épisode la mort des apôtres Pierre et Paul de Tarse comme en atteste pour la première fois Clément de Rome dans son épître aux Corinthiens[12], bien qu'on n'en connaisse rien d'un point de vue historique. La communauté chrétienne de Rome sera prompte, malgré le traumatisme subi, à dédouaner le pouvoir impérial de cette persécution suivant l'injonction paulinienne de se soumettre « à toute institution humaine » et Clément de Rome lui-même impute les victimes néroniennes et la mort des deux apôtres à des tensions intra-communautaires[13].
fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Premiers_martyr…
Irapuato
June 30 First Holy Martyrs Of The Church Of Rome
There were Christians in Rome within a dozen or so years after the death of Jesus, though they were not the converts of the “Apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 15:20). Paul had not yet visited them at the time he wrote his great letter in 57-58 A.D..
There was a large Jewish population in Rome. Probably as a result of controversy between Jews and Jewish …More
June 30 First Holy Martyrs Of The Church Of Rome

There were Christians in Rome within a dozen or so years after the death of Jesus, though they were not the converts of the “Apostle of the Gentiles” (Romans 15:20). Paul had not yet visited them at the time he wrote his great letter in 57-58 A.D..
There was a large Jewish population in Rome. Probably as a result of controversy between Jews and Jewish Christians, the Emperor Claudius expelled all Jews from Rome in 49-50 A.D. Suetonius the historian says that the expulsion was due to disturbances in the city “caused by the certain Chrestus” [Christ]. Perhaps many came back after Claudius’s death in 54 A.D. Paul’s letter was addressed to a Church with members from Jewish and Gentile backgrounds.
In July of 64 A.D., more than half of Rome was destroyed by fire. Rumor blamed the tragedy on Nero, who wanted to enlarge his palace. He shifted the blame by accusing the Christians. According to the historian Tacitus, many Christians were put to death because of their “hatred of the human race.” Peter and Paul were probably among the victims.
Threatened by an army revolt and condemned to death by the senate, Nero committed suicide in 68 A.D. at the age of 31.

Comment:

Wherever the Good News of Jesus was preached, it met the same opposition as Jesus did, and many of those who began to follow him shared his suffering and death. But no human force could stop the power of the Spirit unleashed upon the world. The blood of martyrs has always been, and will always be, the seed of Christians.

Quote:

Pope Clement I, third successor of St. Peter, writes: “It was through envy and jealousy that the greatest and most upright pillars of the Church were persecuted and struggled unto death.... First of all, Peter, who because of unreasonable jealousy suffered not merely once or twice but many times, and, having thus given his witness, went to the place of glory that he deserved. It was through jealousy and conflict that Paul showed the way to the prize for perseverance. He was put in chains seven times, sent into exile, and stoned; a herald both in the east and the west, he achieved a noble fame by his faith....”
“Around these men with their holy lives there are gathered a great throng of the elect, who, though victims of jealousy, gave us the finest example of endurance in the midst of many indignities and tortures. Through jealousy women were tormented, like Dirce or the daughters of Danaus, suffering terrible and unholy acts of violence. But they courageously finished the course of faith and despite their bodily weakness won a noble prize.”
www.americancatholic.org/features/saints/saint.aspx