The Spiritualiity of Martyrdom

Originally Published in French in 2000, The Spirituality of Martyrdom is a brief and accessible yet sweeping study of the spiritual significance attached to martyrdom in the early centuries of the Christian Church. Although studies of early Christian martyrdom have proliferated in recent decades, this book stands out by conveying to a wider audience the essence of this spirituality in its relevance to both theology and the life of every astute Christian today. This book aims to illuminate the intelligibility of the Church's veneration of martyrs in relation to its fundamental beliefs and practices and seeks to relate this intelligibility to the broader Catholic moral tradition. The preface by Patrick Clark highlights how this volume is oriented toward the fields of moral theology and Thomistic ethics in light of the other key contributions the late Father Pinckaers made to those disciplines.