In Lesser Feasts and Fasts, this day, 2 June, commemorates Blandina and her companions who were martyred (derived from the Greek word meaning “to witness”) in Lyon in 177.
Very little is known about her, but what we do know comes from Eusebius who wrote A History of the Church (Historia Ecclesiastica). He reports that Blandina was a slave who died for her faith in Christ. She was bound to a stake and her torturers set wild beasts on her, but the animals did not harm her. After a few days of this, Blandina was led into the arena to witness her companions’ sufferings. Finally, she was scourged, placed on a red-hot grate, enclosed in a net and thrown before a wild steer.
It is doubtful that any of us will be roasted and then tossed before a wild steer, but we are called to be witnesses to our faith in Christ as well. How do we witness to Jesus in our daily lives? Do we give a kind word or a smile to someone who needs it? Do we listen to the lonely? Do we impart Christ’s love to a hurting world?
Very little is known about her, but what we do know comes from Eusebius who wrote A History of the Church (Historia Ecclesiastica). He reports that Blandina was a slave who died for her faith in Christ. She was bound to a stake and her torturers set wild beasts on her, but the animals did not harm her. After a few days of this, Blandina was led into the arena to witness her companions’ sufferings. Finally, she was scourged, placed on a red-hot grate, enclosed in a net and thrown before a wild steer.
It is doubtful that any of us will be roasted and then tossed before a wild steer, but we are called to be witnesses to our faith in Christ as well. How do we witness to Jesus in our daily lives? Do we give a kind word or a smile to someone who needs it? Do we listen to the lonely? Do we impart Christ’s love to a hurting world?
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