A week ago today, I reviewed Not Less than Everything: Catholic Writers on Heroes of Conscience from Joan of Arc to Oscar Romero (2013). A few days after writing that piece, I received a request from Duane Arnold to take a look at what he and others are doing through “The Martrys Project.” The project has released a CD featuring prayers from
a “great cloud of witnesses” from across the centuries and around the globe and include Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a child from Ravensbruck, Clement of Rome, Sadoth of Selucia, Carpus of Gurdos, John Ri, Thomas Becket, Ignatius of Antioch and Quirinus of Siscia.
So What?
During the Season of Lent, many have chosen to focus on a specific spiritual discipline. Whether or not this is true for you, I encourage you to take some time to select then reflect on the contributions of a single martyr. What has this person’s life and death meant to you? for the cause he/she labored in love to advance?
If your background is such that you are not familiar with the story of any martyrs or is flooded by so many stories it is impossible to focus on just one, consider using the music video below about Oscar Romero (The PROJECT: Martyrs Prayers) as the focus for today’s spiritual exercise.