Large scale persecution of Christians began under the two year reign of Emperor Decius in 250. According to tradition, Saint Paramon and 274 others were martyred on the same day in Asia Minor. With constant civil wars, the Roman Empire seemed to be unraveling in the third century. Requiring subjects to sacrifice to the gods was an attempt to strengthen the Empire. Instead, the persecution of the Christians caused both Christians and pagans to realize how strong in numbers the Christians were in urban centers, and these persecutions merely added to the chaos in the Empire. It was left to the Emperor Constantine, one of the great statesman of history, to give the Empire in the East an 1100 year lease on life in the fourth century by founding a new capital city, Constantinople and ceasing the persecutions against the Christians and adopting Christianity as the state faith of the Empire. Thus God brings good out of human evil and human need.
Saint of the Day Quote: Saint Paramon and Companions
- Donald R. McClarey
Donald R. McClarey
Cradle Catholic. Active in the pro-life movement since 1973. Father of three, one in Heaven, and happily married for 43 years. Small town lawyer and amateur historian. Former president of the board of directors of the local crisis pregnancy center for a decade.
