Tales of War and Redemption
Even in
the face of the ultimate human failing, we must be responsive to suffering and
attuned to joy
By Phil Klay
DECEMBER 4, 2017
When I
was a kid, I had a comic book called The Big Book of Martyrs, part
of a series by Factoid Books that included such titles as The Big Book
of Thugs, The Big Book of Losers, and The Big Book of Weirdos. Inside
the martyr book were comic-book depictions of various saints and their
horrible, horrible deaths—great stuff if you’re an 11-year-old boy. I know that
Catholics like myself are trying for a more modern, nicer church these days,
with less of the fire and brimstone and more of the
let-the-children-come-unto-me, but I can’t help thinking that if Game
of Thrones can be a smash hit, then the Catholic Church might make
progress in the 10- to 14-year-old demographic by leaning more heavily on the
decidedly R-rated tales from The Big Book of Martyrs.
I
enjoyed these stories immensely, but they were also confusing—and not because
of all the killing and dying for faith. That, I could understand. God, on the
other hand, behaved very strangely. He was always protecting his martyrs before
their deaths, but (to my eyes) in what seemed like the laziest, most
halfhearted way imaginable.
There’s
Saint Lucy, for example, who refuses to burn a pagan sacrifice. She is
sentenced to be defiled in a brothel, but when the guards try to take her away,
they find she’s completely immovable. Big, muscular guards strain to drag off
this slender young woman, but she’s fixed to the spot, standing firm. Not the
greatest miracle in the world but, okay, not bad. Then things escalate. They
bring in a team of oxen, hitch her to the animals, and let them loose. Once
again, nothing. Guards lash the massive beasts forward, the animals pull with
all their might, but Saint Lucy does not budge. They lay bundles of wood at her
feet and try to set her on fire, but the wood doesn’t burn. Things are looking
up for Saint Lucy. But then it’s as if God gets distracted and looks away for a
moment, while they rip out her eyes and stab her to death. . .
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