**MARTYRDOM and MARTYR.** – From the Greek μάρτυρ, witness, in Christian language it is the person who has borne witness to Christ with his blood.
**OUTLINE:**
I. Concept
II. Cult of the martyrs and ancient iconography
III. Martyrdom in causes of beatification and canonization.I. Concept
Jesus, in his great discourse on the mission of the Apostles (*Mt. 10*), says: “I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves” (v. 16) and foretells (v. 17): “Beware of men, for they will deliver you up to councils, and scourge you in their synagogues” (v. 18), “and you shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and before the Gentiles.” At the moment of the trial they need not worry about how to speak or what to say, for the Spirit of the Father will speak in them (v. 20). The time in which all this will happen is the eschatological time, when “brother shall deliver up brother to death, and the father his child, and children shall rise up against parents and put them to death. And you shall be hated by all men for my name’s sake; but he who endures to the end shall be saved” (v. 21).The dissolution of all family ties is a characteristic sign of the time before the end (cf. *Mk. 13*, 8 and 12; *Eth. Hen. 100*, 2; *4 Esd. 6*, 24; *Sanhedrin*, 97a); it is characteristic of Jesus’ preaching, which inserts the persecution of the disciples and the possibility of martyrdom into the traditional framework of eschatology. This eschatological background of the passion of the disciples distinguishes Christian martyrdom from the sufferings of the “just” in the Jewish religion (persecuted prophets and Maccabees) or of the Greek sages who defend moral truth against “tyrants.”
The account of Christian martyrdom may be enriched with elements drawn from Jewish or Greek tradition, but this does not alter the fundamental fact that martyrdom in the eschatological time is intimately bound up with Jesus Himself. “For my sake you will be brought before governors and kings, for my name’s sake you will be hated by all men.” All, according to Jesus’ clear words, wish to oppose the Christian preaching from the beginning. This hostility, which ends in acts of violence against the advocates of the evangelical truth, is in itself a revelation of what man is in the face of Jesus: it reveals the innermost feelings of Jews and Greeks regarding the revelation of God Himself. On the other hand, the public testimony rendered by Jesus’ disciples also reveals the presence of the Holy Spirit in them. Thus in the last times “men” will be manifest among Jews and Gentiles, and the Holy Spirit in the martyrs. Testimony is part of the concept of martyr, and this must be public. “Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I also will acknowledge him before My Father who is in heaven” (*Lk. 12*, 8). Martyrdom is not exhausted in the fact that the martyr suffers for the cause of Christ. What distinguishes the death of the martyr from that of the soldier is that the latter suffers for a man (or a human cause), whereas the martyr suffers for the “Son of Man,” who with His own death began the creation of a future world transcending human causes. The martyr’s testimony presupposes the testimony of Him who was “born and came into the world to bear witness to the truth” (*Jn. 18*, 37). The disciple suffers as the Master, or rather with the Master, because he is in the same eschatological situation, in which the word “truth” signifies the revelation of God Himself. “Baptized into the death of Jesus,” “grafted into His likeness” (*Rom. 6*, 3, 5), He compares His own death to a baptism (*Lk. 12*, 50, whence the term: baptism of blood), and by drinking the cup of the Lord’s death we have no other outcome than to remember (*1 Cor. 11*, 26) the Lord’s death. One cannot belong to the Church without sharing in the Passion of Jesus. Not all can become martyrs, for martyrdom is only one of the charisms in the Church,
through the death of Jesus and of those who have followed Him in the shedding of blood. It is not arbitrary that in the early Church the name of martyr became increasingly the privileged title of those who died for Jesus, but this does not mean that the confessor remained without privileges. Confessor and martyr are the expression of the fact that the Church is always in the eschatological situation that was inaugurated by Jesus and that ends with the coming of the “Son of Man,” accompanied by the martyrs, to the Judgment. The Church is therefore, not only in the succession of its bishops, but also in the ever-new vocation of confessors and martyrs, the apostolic Church.
II. CULT OF MARTYRS AND ANCIENT ICONOGRAPHY
The esteem and veneration that the “witnesses of Christ” enjoyed in life among their contemporaries by virtue of their lofty concept of martyrdom will be treated in the article on PERSECUTION; here we deal only with the devotion they received after their heroic and glorious death.### The Origins
For more than a good century after the establishment of the Church—a period truly rich in illustrious martyrs (it suffices to recall the protomartyr Stephen [v.], the Apostles, the Roman protomartyrs, the "ingenua multitudo" sacrificed by Nero, Antipas the martyr of Pergamum [v.], St. Ignatius of Antioch [v.], St. Justin the Philosopher [v.])—it seems that nothing was done but to provide them with a "distinguished burial" and to render those honors to the confessors of the Faith that were customarily given to the deceased, whose cult was so alive in antiquity, both classical and Christian. However, while pagans, to escape the memory of death, celebrated the "dies natalis" of the deceased, Christians, for whom death had a far different meaning, solemnized the annual recurrence of their passing, in remembrance of the deceased’s birth into heaven, which marks the end of trial and suffering and the beginning of true life in God (cf. the observations made on this point by the Arianizing Anonymus in Job, lib. III; PG 17, 517). The first document to mention the dies natalis of a martyr in the aforementioned sense is the *Martyrium Polycarpi*, written by the community of Smyrna probably in 177 (cf. H. Grégoire-P. Orgels, *La véritable date du martyre de St Polycarpe* [23 février 177] et le « corpus Polycarpianum », in *Anal. Bolland.*, 69 [1951], pp. 1-38). This document takes care to establish unequivocally the honors to be rendered to Christ and to the martyrs: to the former, adoration "as the Son of God," to His "witnesses," love and therefore veneration, "because they are disciples and imitators of the Lord" (ch. 17; ed. R. Knopf, *Ausgewählte Märtyrerakten*, 3rd ed., Tübingen 1929, p. 6). This clear distinction precludes any possibility of linking this cult to that of the gods and heroes, as Protestant or rationalist authors have claimed, basing their argument on analogies between pagan myths and customs with late hagiographical compositions and manifestations of popular cult in honor of certain thaumaturgic martyrs. Indeed, St. Jerome (Contra Vigil.: PL 23, 357-58) and St. Augustine had already had to stigmatize this error (De Civitate Dei, XXII, 10).
The cult of the martyrs is nothing other than the sublimation of that of the deceased: at the tombs of both (for the ancients, the tomb was the most direct means of entering into communion with the deceased), the faithful would gather to commemorate them. Yet while they prayed for the deceased and the rites performed at the tomb retained their somber aspect, recourse was made to the intercession of the martyrs, and the rites in their honor took on a distinctly joyful character. Moreover, the memory of the martyrs served "as encouragement and preparation for those who were about to enter the struggle" (Martyrium Polycarpi, 18; op. cit., p. 6). The external manifestations of the cult of martyrs and the deceased were still so similar by the end of the 4th and the beginning of the 5th century that St. Augustine felt compelled to warn his faithful not to confuse simple deceased persons with martyrs (cf. Serm. 159, 1, 284, 5; PL 38, 868, 1291; In Ioan. Tractatus, 84, 1; ibid. 35, 1847; De Civitate Dei, XXII, 10).
The veneration accorded to martyrs consisted in:
a) The pious and careful gathering of their sacred remains, when the tyrant did not deliberately scatter them. The Smyrniotes collected the bones of St. Polycarp from the pyre—"more precious than choice gems and more splendid than gold"—and placed them in a suitable place" (Martyrium, cit., 18; op. cit., p. 6); at Caesarea, the Roman senator Astirius, present at the martyrdom of the soldier Marinus, "took the corpse upon his shoulders, wrapped it in a shining and precious garment, and with magnificent pomp placed it in a fitting tomb" (Eusebius, Hist. eccl., VII, 16); at Carthage, the body of St. Cyprian was "rescued from the curiosity of the pagans and, by night, accompanied by candles and torches with prayers in solemn procession to the cemetery of Macrobius Candidianus" (Acta Cypriani, 6; ed. Knopf, cit., p. 64). The honored burial took place either in private cemeteries or in common cemeteries shared with other faithful, above ground or in underground passageways; often the interment was carried out without any distinction. Even on the slabs that sealed the loculi of the martyr-pope Pontian, Fabian, and Cornelius in the cemetery of Callixtus, nothing more than their names appeared; only later was the title "martyr" added.
b) On the dies natalis of the martyrs, the faithful would gather near their tombs or, if that was impossible, elsewhere (cf. the case of the martyr Pionius, arrested at home while celebrating the birthday of St. Polycarp: Martyrium Pionii, 2-3, ed. Knopf, pp. 45-46), to commemorate them with the celebration of the Eucharist or even with the rite of the "refrigerium," as was also customary for deceased faithful. In the so-called "triclia Apostolorum" in the catacombs on the Appian Way, graffiti can be read such as: "Petro et Paulo Tomius Coelius refrigerium feci / At Paulum et Petrum refrigeravi / XIII Kal. apriles refrigeravi Parthenius in Deo et nos in Deo omnes / Dalmatius botum is promisit refrigerium," which recall the funeral rite of the "refrigerium" or liturgical agape (cf. F. Grossi Gondi, *Il rito funebre del "refrigerium" al sepolcro apostolico dell'Appia*, in *Dissertazioni Pont. accad. rom. archeol.*, 2nd ser., 14 [1920], pp. 261-77). The celebration of the Eucharist and sacred songs constituted the essential part of the gathering. Some have wished to see in the letter of St. Ignatius to the Romans (II, 2) an allusion to a liturgical assembly that the Romans would have celebrated after Ignatius’ death, but the passage is not clear (cf. G. Jouassard, *Aux origines du culte des martyrs dans le christianisme. St Ignace d'Antioche, Rom. II, 2*, in *Recherches de science religieuse*, 39 [1951], pp. 362-67). Two 4th-century texts allow us to imagine how a liturgical synaxis in honor of the martyrs unfolded: the *Oratio ad Sanctorum coetum*, attributed to Constantine (ch. 12; ed. I. A. Heikel, in *CB*, VII, Berlin 1903, p. 171), and the *Constitutiones Apostolorum*, VI, 30 (ed. F. X. Funk, I, Paderborn 1905, p. 381; one should also consider a text by Abbot Shenoute, cited by Fr. H. Delehaye, in *Anal. Bolland.*, 40 [1922], p. 37).
It was probably to make these gatherings of the faithful more convenient on the anniversaries of martyrs or the deceased that Pope Fabian "iussit multas fabricas per cimiteria fieri" (Liberian Catalogue: ed. L. Duchesne, *Lib. Pont.*, I, p. 4). Similarly, the prohibition issued by Valerian against Christians—"ne in aliquibus locis conciliabula fiant, nec coemeteria ingrediantur" (Acta Cypriani, 1; ed. Knopf, cit., p. 62; cf. also Eusebius, Hist. eccl., VII, XI, 10; IX, 11, 1)—must also refer to gatherings of worship.
St. Cyprian wished that account be taken of the day of death of the glorious confessors of the faith "ut inter memorias martyrum celebrare possimus" (Epist. 12; ed. G. Hartel, in *CSEL*, III, 11, p. 503; cf. also Epist. 39; ibid., p. 583). Unfortunately, so many communities, including that of Rome, in the 1st and 2nd centuries, failed to record the dates of the dies natalis of their martyrs, so that for most of them only the name is known, and often not even that has been preserved, as in the case of the Roman protomartyrs. This should not cause surprise, since the earliest Christian communities were primarily concerned with rendering liturgical worship to Christ, the Son of God.
2. The cult of the martyrs after the Peace of Constantine
With the Peace of Constantine, everywhere, as Eusebius of Caesarea attests in Book X of his *Historia ecclesiastica*, external manifestations of Christian worship took on grand proportions, and everywhere arose places of worship dedicated with rites of a solemnity hitherto unseen. Every community made it a duty to honor the memory of its ancient and recent heroes, as is evidenced by numerous literary, epigraphic, and monumental testimonies. To this end, their tombs were identified and adorned with barriers, marbles, paintings, and poems, or were enclosed within sumptuous basilicas or graceful oratories with altars placed over or beside the tomb; lamps of various forms, placed on the *mensa oleorum* or hanging, and candles of varying size burned there continuously. On the anniversaries, flowers and perfumes were lavishly offered. The names of the martyrs were inscribed in diptychs; their anniversary dates were sought to be entered in the calendar, and in cases of doubt, official recognition was sought from the authorities regarding the reality or otherwise of the martyrdom (v. VINDICATIO), as happened especially in Africa during the Donatist controversy, which boasted of having genuine martyrs. Meanwhile, the faithful sought the supreme favor of being buried near the tombs of the martyrs, as attested by many inscriptions (cf. F. Grossi Gondi, *Trattato di epigrafia cristiana latina e greca*, Rome 1920, pp. 256–57) and by St. Augustine, who explains the value to be attributed to burial near a martyr (De cura pro mortuis gerenda: PL 40, 609–10). Martyrs were invoked as advocates for the dead; witness the inscription found in the cemetery of Pamphilus: *«Martires Sancti Boni Benedicti bos attivata Quirauc»* (E. Josi, *Il cimitero di Panfilo*, in *Riv. di arch. crist.*, 1 [1924], p. 63).This widespread enthusiasm for the heroes of the faithful led communities to exchange the anniversaries of their most celebrated martyrs. Rome, for example, welcomed the anniversaries of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity and of St. Cyprian, the latter celebrated in the cemetery of Callistus, on the tomb of St. Cornelius (cf. *Deposito Martyrum*: ed. R. Valentini–G. Zucchetti, *Il codice topografico della Città di Roma*, II, Rome 1942, p. 26), and in turn, Carthage and the African Churches celebrated the anniversaries of the most renowned Roman martyrs, as is evident from the sermons of St. Augustine (cf. C. Lambot, *Les sermons de St Augustin pour les fêtes des Martyrs*, in *Anal. Bolland.*, 67 [1949], pp. 244–66) and from the Calendar of Carthage. The same was done by the Egyptian Churches for various Eastern martyrs (cf. H. Delehaye, *Les Martyrs d'Égypte*, ibid., 40 [1922], pp. 1–154, 207–364; Egypt also manifested its love for the martyrs in chronology: the era of the martyrs, a transformation of the Diocletian era, remained in use there until the 8th century). However, the factor that most contributed to spreading the cult of particular martyrs was the translation and dissemination of their relics. This practice began in the East, and the first known translation is that of St. Babylas of Antioch by Caesar Gallus (351–54), followed by the more famous ones of 356 and 357, which enriched the new imperial capital, Constantinople, with the relics of Sts. Timothy, Andrew, and Luke. Thereafter, the translations and the fragmentations of holy bodies became countless. Some communities generously distributed the relics of their martyrs, desiring to see them known and honored in other lands. St. John Chrysostom attests, for example, that the Egyptians distributed relics with the same generosity with which they gave away surplus grain (cf. *Laudatio Martyrum Aegyptiorum*: PG 50, 693–94). This practice also spread to the West, but was not adopted by Rome until the late 7th or 8th century, when it was compelled, for reasons of security, to transfer the sacred remains preserved in suburban cemeteries within the city walls. The relics of the martyrs, taken from their tombs, were placed beneath altars and often enclosed in precious reliquaries (v.).
In addition to the translation of relics, the cult of particular martyrs was propagated by the panegyrics of the great orators of the 4th and 5th centuries, the *Passiones*, the booklets of miracles, the poetic works of Prudentius and Paulinus of Nola, as well as the thaumaturgic fame of some of them, such as St. Lawrence in Rome, St. Menas in Lower Egypt, Sts. Stephen and John the Baptist after the discovery of their relics, St. Euphemia in Chalcedon, St. Theodore in Euchaita, St. Sergius at Rusafa on the Syrian frontier, St. Demetrius in Thessalonica, St. Maurice at Agaunum, etc. The tombs of these martyrs soon became renowned pilgrimage sites, and crowds of devotees thronged the grand basilicas erected *ad corpus* through the munificence of emperors, popes, bishops, or generous faithful; pilgrims brought rich gifts and ex-votos as tokens of gratitude and returned to their homelands with relics, *brandea*, and various *eulogiae*, which naturally helped to spread the cult. Yet not always were the popular manifestations in honor of the martyrs edifying, as is evident, for example, from the reproaches of Abbot Shenoute (d. 466) against incubation and the manner of celebrating martyrs' feasts (Delehaye, art. cit., pp. 37–39) or those of Bishop Pisenzio of Qef at the end of the 6th century (cf. W. E. Crum, *Discours de Pisenthius sur St Onophrius*, in *Rev. de l'Orient chrétien*, 2nd ser., 10 [1915–17], pp. 38–67; *Anal. Bolland.*, 38 [1920], p. 415).
In short, the cult of the martyrs in the course of the 4th and 5th centuries increasingly lost its local character to assume the universal one that would be permanently secured by the acceptance, across various Churches, of certain types of liturgical books. In the West, for example, the triumph of liturgical books of the Roman type, fostered by the efforts of Charlemagne and his liturgists, ensured a universal cult for all the martyrs included in them.
Vedi: ATTI DEI MARTIRI.
3. Ancient iconography
Before the Peace of Constantine, no certain representations of martyrs can be identified, with the exception of the Princes of the Apostles; such representations, however, become frequent with the multiplication of new sacred buildings adorned with paintings, mosaics, and sculptures, and with the embellishment of their tombs. Martyrs are then depicted wearing the attire of a person of high rank, namely tunic, pallium, and sandals, generally white if male; with tunic and *clauna* (sometimes replaced by the pallium) if military; and with stole, dalmatic, and palla if female.In the 4th and 5th centuries, it sometimes becomes difficult to distinguish the martyr from a sacred figure or a person of high rank due to the lack of iconographic characteristics; one would not know, for example, that they are the martyrs Sixtus and Hippolytus (sarcophagus of Apt, *v.* illustration under the entry HIPPOLYTUS, saint) or the martyrs Nabor and Felix (chapel of St. Victor in St. Ambrose in Milan), having no other distinguishing feature than the scroll or book held in hand—also held by simple deceased persons—unless the artist had inscribed their respective names beside them. Soon, however, the martyr would acquire iconographic characteristics that would distinguish him from ordinary persons: the crown and the palm, symbols of victory; the crown is preferred in ancient art,
(from Wilpert, *Die Malereien der Katakomben Roms*, tav. 111) Martyr and Martyr - Christ among the martyrs Lawrence, Sebastian, Zoticus, and Stephen. Fresco from the apse conch of Santa Maria in Pallars (10th century), the lower part is from the 11th-12th century. - Rome.
whether the martyrdom was real or not (v. *vindicatio*), as happened especially
the palm and the instrument of martyrdom would instead be normally used in medieval and modern art. The crown began as one of leaves and flowers (*v.* baptistery of Naples, 4th century) but by the mid-5th century it transformed into a true jeweled diadem (in the cemetery of Ponziano, Christ places a jeweled crown on the heads of the saints Abdon and Sennen, 6th century). The crown rarely encircles the martyr’s head (St. Agnes [*v.* related illustration] in the conch of her basilica); usually it is placed on the hands covered by the edge of the pallium, the chlamys, or the palla, or else it is held by one covered hand while the other, uncovered, gently approaches II. The circular nimbus appears around the martyr’s head at the end of the 5th century, with the first examples found in the frescoes of the cemetery of Ponziano (Wilpert, *Die Malereien der Katakomben Roms*, tav. 255). Regarding the martyr’s posture, it is worth noting that it can be: 1) hieratic, the martyr standing upright with the crown in hand (*v.*, for example, the procession of martyrs in Sant’Apollinare Nuovo, 6th century, or that in the chapel of St. Venantius beside the Lateran Baptistery, late 7th century); 2) reverent and solicitous deference, in apse compositions, to Christ or to the Blessed Virgin Mary who occupy the place of honor: the martyr, somewhat bent forward with the crown in hand, approaches the central figure with quick steps (for example, in the church of Saints Cosmas and Damian in Rome, 526–30, in the Eufrasian Basilica in Parenzo, ca. 530–60); 3) in prayer: St. Menas (*v.* related ill.) is thus represented between two camels, St. Cecilia (*v.* related ill.) in the crypt of the same name in San Callisto, St. Januarius (*v.* related ill.) in an arcosolium of his cemetery in Naples, St. Apollinaris (*v.* related ill.) in the church of the same name in Classe in Ravenna. Martyrs belonging to the clergy—deacons, bishops, etc.—clothed in sacred vestments hold in hand the open Gospel book, or the Cross and the Gospel book (St. Stephen, St. Lawrence in the mosaics of St. Lawrence outside the Walls: *v.* LAWRENCE, saint, related ill.), or also a richly bound closed volume, the *lex Christi* (Sts. Sixtus II, Cornelius, Cyprian, and Optatus in San Callisto, 6th century: Wilpert, *Die Malereien der Katakomben Roms*, tav. 256). Rare is the scene of a martyr in glory beside Christ, such as is frescoed in the cemetery *Inter duas Lauros* (*v.* related ill.) on the Via Labicana.
Sometimes the martyr is represented in his role as “advocate” before Christ: “S. Martyres apud Deum et Christum erunt advocati” is read in an inscription of the Argo Verano (cf. E. Josi, art. cit., p. 63). The martyr Petronilla, for example, stands beside the deceased Veneranda in Domitilla (after 356: Wilpert, tav. 231), the martyr Adauctus in the cemetery of Commodilla holds his hand on the shoulder of the deceased Tortora as she approaches the throne of Mary (*v.* Commodilla, related ill.).
The oldest surviving depiction of a martyr with the instrument of martyrdom is that of St. Lawrence in the so-called mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna (*v.* LAWRENCE, saint). However, it is known from St. Basil (*Homilia XVII in Barlaam martyrem*: PG 31, 490), St. Gregory of Nyssa (*Oratio sancti m. Theodori*: PG 46, 738), St. Asterius bishop of Amasea (*Enarration in martyrium m. Euphémia*: PG 40, 338), and from the inscription placed by Sixtus III (432–40) on the inner side of the entrance to Santa Maria Maggiore (G. B. De Rossi, *Inscriptiones Christianae Urbis Romae*, II, Rome 1888, p. 71) that it was customary to represent in churches scenes of martyrdom or martyrs with their instruments of death. Of great interest in this regard are the miniatures of the Menologion of Basil II (976–1025, ed. Pio Franchi de’ Cavalieri, text and phototype reproduction, Turin 1907). Still useful for consultation on the aforementioned instruments is A. Gallonio, *Trattato degli instrumenti di martirio*, Rome 1591, French edition, Paris 1904.
Particular mention should be made of the depictions of cephalophore martyrs, that is, those martyrs who are said to have picked up and carried their severed heads in their hands. The episode, narrated for more than a hundred martyrs, is purely legendary, and the oldest hagiographic text containing it is the anonymous *Passio* of St. Denis of Paris (*Acta SS. Octobris*, IV, Brussels 1780, p. 794), dating to the first decades of the 9th century, whose author manipulated a phrase from his source, the *Passio s. Dionysii* of the Pseudo-Fortunatus (ibid., p. 927), which says something quite different. Given the great diffusion of the anonymous *Passio*, also translated
Martyr and Martyr - The cephalophore martyrdom of St. Denis. Miniature from the Book of Hours probably belonging to Charles VIII (late 15th century) - Paris, Bibliothèque nationale, ms. lat. 1370, f. 212v.
MARTYRDOM AND MARTYR - Sepulchral inscription with invocation of martyrs (4th century) - Rome, cemetery of Pamphilus.
BIBL.:
Mélanges offerts au R. P. F. Cavallera, Toulouse 1948, pp. 215–30; R. Loenertz, Un prétendu sanctuaire romain de St Dnys de Paris, in *Anal. Bolland.*, 66 (1948), pp. 118–23; id., Le panégyrique de St Dnys l’Aéropagite par St Michel le Syncelle, ibid., 68 (1950), pp. 104–107; id., La légende parisienne de St Dnys l’Aéropagite. Sa genèse et son premier témoin, ibid., 69 (1951), pp. 217–37.
III. MARTYRDOM IN CAUSES OF BEATIFICATION AND CANONIZATION
Despite the broader meaning that the term “martyr” had in antiquity and the subsequent analogous meanings assumed in the ascetic sphere, the Church, with the refinement of the process of beatification, increasingly wished to define the figure of the martyr and restricted its concept to the present-day definition, in which four historical-juridical elements are clearly distinguished.
The first element today is the duly proven fact of the violent death suffered by the hero. It is not enough that this death was merely threatened or decreed by the persecutor and intentionally accepted by the persecuted if, in fact, it did not occur for some reason; even the most cruel sufferings endured for the faith are considered insufficient if they did not lead to death. Beyond this material element of martyrdom, there is the personal element, no less important nor less necessary juridically, which requires that the death result from an extrinsic and distinct causality responsible for II. The victim cannot seek it under the impulse of mere subjective and environmental suggestions but must heroically endure it as imposed by a persecutor.
A third element to be ascertained is the causal or finalistic one, which is the most formal and decisive, since it substantially specifies and distinguishes the Christian holocaust from every other sacrifice, making its supernatural meaning and meritorious value evident. It is therefore required that the true martyr be put to death for a reason of faith or moral virtue referable to and related to God. The reason for death may thus be fidelity to the revealed dogma or to the Church as the teacher of divine truth; or fidelity to a moral precept, natural or positive, insofar as sanctioned by the authority of God. Although other ends and motives may coexist, both in the victim and in the persecutor, they cannot obscure the essential religious and moral meaning of the sacrifice, for the Augustinian dictum always holds: *non facit martyre poena sed causa*.
There is finally a moral or psychological element that completes the figure of the martyr and reveals him as a perfect imitator of Christ. The death must be consciously accepted for the aforementioned end and endured with particular spiritual dispositions, which are constant fortitude and serene meekness, inspired by supernatural principles.
The causes of martyrs are regarded by the Church with particular favor, both because the complementary proof of miracles is more readily available when the case is most evident (can. 2116 § 2) and because they do not require a judgment on the heroic virtues possibly exercised in life by the victim. The proofs, however, must extend to all the individual elements mentioned above and must consist of direct testimony, or in the so-called historical causes, of authentic and exhaustive contemporary documents (can. 2020). These are collected and examined under the critical control of the Promoter General of the Faith (v.), discussed in three sessions, and finally submitted to the supreme judgment of the Pope. The causes of martyrs cannot be combined unless it is a matter of the same persecution that struck several in the same place (can. 2001 § 1), but even in this case the proofs remain distinct for the respective subjects. For canonization there are no special requirements; beatification must always precede it, and the required miracles must be previously approved (v. MIRACOLO).