I'm glad he had his faith through it all.

Feelso bad for him.

something like this during the Iraq war, and stopped it soon after it started, and wondered what in the hell I was doing. Seeing something like that is bad for your psyche IMO

Horrible sight! Yes it is not good to watch that stuff.

I believe it.

To qualify as a martyr, one must be killed in odium fidei -- hatred of the faith. I am thinking, however, of one example where that was rather blatantly violated.

In 1941, Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, O.F.M. Conv. was a prisoner at Auschwitz. Three prisoners had escaped, and the camp commandant said that ten prisoners were to be chosen at random, shut up in a hut, and starved to death pour encourager les autres. One of the selected prisoners, Franciszek Gajowniczek, objected that he had a wife and children. Kolbe volunteered to take his place. The SS officer present said essentially, "It makes no difference to me which prisoner goes into the hut." After three weeks, the survivors were injected with carbolic acid.

Now, while Kolbe's death was an ultimate act of self-sacrifice, it was not a martyrdom. Yet John Paul II had him canonized as a martyr, and waffled about him being "a martyr of charity". In short, JPII wanted Kolbe canonized, and broke the rules to get it done.

Incidentally, Gajowniczek was present at the canonization ceremony.

He did it because he was a priest but he wasn't killed because he was a priest.

The Orthodox Church has a category of sainthood for thse who are killed while exercising their faith but not necessarily directly because of their faith. They carry the title "Holy Passion Bearer." I think James Foley might well fit into that group.

Father Bill McNichols is a wonderful artist who paints icons, some of not-yet-recognized saints, including Dorothy Day. One shows Holy Passion Bearer Fr. Mychal Judge against the background of the 911 attacks, embraced by St. Francis. It's deeply moving.

until I stumbled across the icon of Fr. Mychal online, with Fr. McNichols' explanation of the title. Google Andrei Rubelev Studios to see it, as well as the artist's other work.

May I ask the subject?

It's always fascinated me that icons are said to be written, rather than painted.

He wrote one of the presentation, one of Mary and christ child, and one of the last supper.

I think they consider it a part of Scripture in a way. I have to look it up.

The calligraphy is archaic but not ancient Greek. The counterpart, roughly, of Gothic script.

His work is excellent.

I always hated Beowulf. Transitional languages are so indecisive.

It just clicked in my head.

I still remember that day.

There is something about him that seems to appeal to many people. I can barely look at pictures of him for some reason. The idea of watching the video actively repulses me.