The blood of the Christian martyrs was/is sacred to the memory of their own "confessio" (when they confess their Faith and then shed their blood for It).
Sometimes the blood was kept and preserved in jars placed inside churches. This depiction can be seen in a side chapel in the Roman Basilica of S. Pudenziana. Yes, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of faith.
Splendid!
ReplyDeleteTertullian's actual comment was 'Sanguinis Christianorum semen'; because at that time, to be a Christian was, in effect, to be a martyr.
ReplyDeleteLet us pray for some of that Faith today; we could do with it.