Just one day after the feast of St Peter and St Paul, we are reminded of the hundreds, possibly thousands of martyrs killed by cruel and atrocious Emperors in the first 300 years of Christianity. What is known as the Persecution era, so many martyrs died defending their faith, either through crucifixion, being burned, being eaten by lions or other excruciating methods of torture. Many of them were arrested just for being seen carrying a cross in their hands. Most of them congregated underground in catacombs, for fear of being arrested and killed. Some of the known martyrs have been canonized by the church, St. Agnes, St. Agatha, St. Cecilia, St. Lucy, St. Sebastian, St Ignatius of Antioch, most of the early Popes, and so many others. It was only thanks to King Constantine who ended the Persecutions in 313 AD that Christians could once again profess their faith freely and build basilicas and churches to worship in.
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