Seeking martyrdom

[Dimitris]

Hallo!

Some of you may know the poetic drama Murder in the Cathedral by T. S. Eliot. I read it years ago when I still was in school, but one of the main themes I remember was that one must not seek to become a martyr, but has to accept death as inevitable. I think that will most probably also be the opinion of the Orthodox Church, but are there texts of the orthodox Fathers which confirm this position?

Kind regards,
Dimitris

[Kusanagi]

well from Witness to Christ book about martyrs of the ottoman empire. Martyrs have to go through a preparation being sent to martyrdom.

Some people i know think its ok to do whatever they want and go and get themselves martyred with an instant kill. i think however this is wrong but cannot form a good arguement just yet.

I think how you prepare with fasting and prayer and trying to lead a good Christian life will help when you are being tortured as you prepared in a Godly way.
An example that i know is a priest had an arguement with a deacon and the priest being well known for his works refused to forgive the deacon. During this period when he refused to forgive the deacon he was taken captive and was lead to be executed. He stood fast in not forgiving the deacon but the deacon kept asking him for forgiveness at every given opportunity but the priest kept silence all the time. in the end when the priest was about to be beheaded he was over come by fear as God's grace which he had before withdrew itself because he didn't want to forgive his brother and renounced Christ and the deacon took his place and was martyred.

Also it has been advised in the book that to seek marytyrdom can be a temptation as you havent trained yourself in the basics but want to jump straight in. It is similar to the common temptation of novices who want to be perfect without seeking obedience first.