Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. John 16:20
Alexandrian Christians (249)
Mass Persecution
During a terrible persecution of Christians in Alexandria, which started in 249 on the order of a pagan priest, an elderly lady, Apollonia, was threatened by the crowd who wanted to burn her alive after she confessed Christ. A fire was prepared and Apollonia was tied up. Because she begged to be released, the onlookers had the impression that she would recant, so she was untied. But to their amazement she threw herself into the flames and to her death.
Many Christians were attacked and murdered by the mob, who broke into their homes and stole their property. Only three of their names are known including Apollonia described above. Metrus, an old and revered Christian, refused to worship the pagan gods so was beaten with clubs and stoned to death. A Christian woman named Quinta was taken to the temple but also refused to worship their idols. After being dragged over sharp stones, she too was stoned to death.
You are the Lord of fire
Present in the fiery furnace,
Present in the heat of life,
Present in situations of horror and despair,
Present in the prisons that incarcerate men for their beliefs.
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were lucky ones,
Lord. They came out unscathed
Not all are so lucky,
Not all understand the tyrannies of life and remain unharmed,
You are with men in their suffering, in their aloneness and ignominy and death.
Be with them.
Be with them through us who are your limbs.
Give us a glimmering of hope in hopeless situations;
For where there is no hope there is nothing.
Rex Chapman