From the Internet:
"PRAY FOR BOSTON: 8-yr old Martin Richard, who
died in the attack the day after receiving his First Holy Communion
symbolizes our pain and yet at the same time our hope: his 1st Communion
banner, with the dove of peace, the Holy Spirit, and the Eucharistic Chalice and Bread, makes us pray to the Risen Lord, Alpha and Omega,
Beginning and End, in Whom we place our final hope."
Martin, pray for the Pope and for motu proprio Summorum Pontificum!
ReplyDeleteHe died for his faith.
ReplyDeleteHow exactly did he die for his faith? I don't necessarily disagree, just hoping you could clarify.
DeleteI hope this little boy's family takes great comfort in the fact that he is likely in Heaven or at the very least spending just mere moments in Purgatory since he was a brand new receiver of First Holy Communion. But to say he died a martyr for The Faith is not true. He died because he was at a public event where others not even Catholic also died. Were they all martyrs?
ReplyDeleteThe circumstances of the young non-Catholic Cassie Bernall who died under a desk at Columbine were much closer to a Christian martyrdom. When her killer pointed his weapon at her and asked "Do you believe in God?" wherein she replied "Yes, I believe in God." she was witnessing to Jesus and that that was the very reason she was killed. Others around her were also killed but not because they gave witness to Christ.
These facts may not make one comfortable when looking at the face of that beautiful child in the photo above but sentimentality does not a saint make and what is not true is not from God. The circumstances of his recent First Holy Communion, should be more than enough to insure all that he is now or VERY soon will be in Heaven, without claims that he died for his Catholic Faith, which he did not.
Ora pro nobis, Martin. Ora pro nobis.
Thanks for setting us straight (sarcasm off)
DeleteThis child is surely in the arms of Our Lord, he is however not a martyr for the Faith. He died at a sporting event, a random victim of an attack- he did not elect this path as a witness to Catholicism. As tragic as this is, melodramatic interpretations do not serve to underscore the tragedy but may have the opposite effect.
ReplyDeleteDearest Martin, Please pray for us!
ReplyDeleteRequiescat in Pace dear boy!
ReplyDeleteUm, he died at the hands of the sword of Islam. He is a Christian martyr.
ReplyDeleteHeaven is now your dwelling place little angel of God, pray for us all who are in this evil world, that the mercy of God will be upon us and save us from his justified wrath.
ReplyDeleteHe is a Martyr... As Obama and his administration are lableing this event as a "religious thing" okay... then if it is a religious thing, then little Martin is a Christian who fell victim to religious hatred toward anything or anybody who ain't a muslim. Shame! All he was doing was cheering on his dad at the finish line. Let us not forget him as an example to what this hatred brings to our world. The death of the innocents! God bless you Martin, and your family who suffers greatly.
ReplyDeletethe lord protects the righteous took him before he could commit a mortal sin so he could be with the lord in Heaven
ReplyDeleteNot a Christian martyr...an American martyr, a martyr for the freedom and liberty that our forefathers fought for, yes. Nevertheless, what's important here is that God creates each human being to live eternally with Him in glory...timing-wise, this is tragic in a worldly sense, but miraculous in an eternal sense.
ReplyDeleteIf the terrorists acted out of hatred for our Lord Jesus Christ and Christianity, Martin could be considered a Holy Innocent, could he not? Martin, pray for all who are still battling the enemies of God and of His Christ.
ReplyDeleteHe had been killed "in hatred of the faith."
ReplyDeleteThe attackers were Islamists, angry at Christian civilization.
That means he could be beatified - the last step before sainthood - without a miracle being attributed to his intercession from above. A miracle is required for him to be declared a saint, however.