The men of that [last] generation will have no deeds whatever, but there will come upon them temptation, and those who are worthy in this temptation will be higher than us and our fathers.—St. Ischyrion of Egypt, early Desert Father.

Recently, I was thumbing through my friend’s Saint Andrew Daily Missal. The middle of that layman’s missal has a surprising history of the Catholic Church’s saints and martyrs. It describes the early Church saints in these shocking terms: “With very few exceptions, such as St. Gregory the Wonderworker (November 17th), St. Mary Magdalene (July 22nd), St. Martha (July 29th) and St. Petronilla (May 31st) the saints of the first four centuries on the Roman Calendar suffered martyrdom.”

That same layman’s missal then labels the First to the Forth Centuries as “The Age of Persecution.” It then lists 27 of the first 32 Popes by name who died as martyrs. Yes, 27 of the first 32 Popes were blood-martyrs for the Catholic faith!

The Missal then beautifully lists those who died under each persecution against the early Church. For example, under Nero (AD 54-68) there were numerous saints. The Church kept the record of her most precious martyrs from the earliest days. As you already know, 11 of the 12 first Apostles died as martyrs.

In fact, St. John the Evangelist was partially considered a martyr. Yesterday (6 May) we celebrated his miraculous recovery at the Latin Gate after he was boiled in oil.  We traditional priests wore red in honor of St. John.  This is obviously a sign of martyrdom.

The Saint Andrew Daily Missal then describes all the saints, attempting a generalization of each century. Although each century obviously boasts very different saints who cannot be compared to each other, a generalization is not in vain either.

For example, the saints of the Middle Ages seem to be the great athletes of the ascetical life. The ascetical life is found in the discipline of fasting, vigiling and physical penance. This is not to compete with each other, but rather to come into union with God.  You will see that most of these Medieval saints were religious, and many of them were missionaries.

For example, the St. Andrew Missal describes the glorious ransom-based congregations of the 13th century founded in France and Spain to rescue Christians kidnapped off the Barbary coast by Muslims. Such men had to conquer themselves in the ascetical life before conquering other lands for Christ. Thus, I would consider the second age of martyrs (the Middle-Ages) to be the time of ascetical martyrs.

Now let’s look at what I will label in this article “the Third Age of Martyrs.” As you know, white-martyrdom is frequently happening to Apostolic Catholics in the West under modernists. Yes, many in the East are still red martyrs, and I have written and podcasted a lot about them. Most red-martyrs today are still being killed under Muslims or Communists. Did you know there are more red martyrs over the last 100 years than every century combined?

But today, we will look at the white martyrdom in the West that does not include torture and death. Rather, these are those who suffer “cancelation.” “Cancelation” doesn’t sound painful, but sociological and psychological persecution for maintaining the ancient faith can lead many good Christians to lose their jobs and often their families.

Take heart, because even the new 1992 catechism predicted this: “Before Christ’s second coming the Church must pass through a final trial that will shake the faith of many believers. The persecution that accompanies her pilgrimage on earth will unveil the ‘mystery of iniquity’ in the form of a religious deception offering men an apparent solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth. The supreme religious deception is that of the Antichrist, a pseudo-messianism by which man glorifies himself in place of God and of his Messiah come in the flesh.”—CCC 675.

The above quote from the CCC seems to say the final persecution will come from fake Catholics against real Catholics. But wait a minute—aren’t I just doing a cheap eisegesis to cherrypick my foregone conclusion on Rome? No, because the above passage clearly implies the final persecutors will be Catholics exchanging the true faith for humanism, seeking “a solution to their problems at the price of apostasy from the truth.” Deceived Catholics of all stripes (liberal, conservative and even traditional) will sadly be united under some friendly (but fake) Messiah who “glorifies himself in place of God.”

Could he be the “Magnificent Man” who just made the Catholic news again?

Today, money-seeking Christians like to claim they are “the Remnant” but they can’t all be correct. The only people who will maintain Apostolic Catholicism to the end in these glorious days of white martyrs will be the ones who see through the new diabolical religion that places man (an actual man?) in the place of God. That requires not just us rejecting heresies per se, but also rejecting popular heretics in pretty vestments. True discernment is a lot harder in the current online climate of deception and false-hope.

Still, the final group of Apostolic Christians should not go around licking their wounds. Quite the contrary. As the early martyrs did not glory in their own martyrdom, but only the cross of Christ, so also should we glory in knowing Christ and recognizing His enemies as such. As the early martyrs sang songs of praise to God amidst the flames, so also should the current white martyrs across the globe sing songs of praise to God amidst the embarrassments and cancelations.

I know, this is easier said than done, so let’s look at two white-martyrdom priests of our current age who carry their crosses valiantly.

In 2023, I wrote an article called They Will Put You Out of the Synagogues based on Christ’s line from John 16:2. I explained my choice of that title: “What is interesting about Our Lord’s above prediction for the coming persecution against His Apostles in Acts of the Apostles is that the Jewish leaders who would kick them out of ‘the synagogues’ would do so because they would believe ‘they are offering service to God.’ In other words, the religious leaders who happen to have the power over buildings will kick out the true religious who are preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all nations (that is, the newly ordained Apostles.)”

I then wrote about two canceled diocesan priests from Brazil and Australia who were canceled simply for being too Catholic.

I wrote:  “It is now due to ‘obedience’ why traditional priests such as Fr. Michael Rowe of Perth, Australia and Fr. Fábio Fernandes of São Paulo, Brazil have just been removed from their parishes. They are not being removed for any accusations of moral failures against them. Rather, they are being removed for simply teaching and worshipping as Catholics have done for 2,000 years. Hence, those ejecting them actually believe they are ‘offering service to God.’ (Jn 16:2) precisely because of the chain-of-command they claim to the top.”

That canceled Brazilian priest, Fr. Fábio Fernandes, wrote this beautiful paragraph about how Apostolic Catholics must now suffer a white-martyrdom for others:

“Let us be aware that everything we are facing will bear good fruit for souls today and for future generations, because despite our miseries and sins, if we suffer sincerely out of love for God Our Lord who suffered everything for us, contributing to the preservation and transmission of Tradition and the Catholic Faith, promoting the freedom and exaltation of the Holy Church and collaborating for the custody of the traditional family, the beneficiaries will be those for whom Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross, whose effects of grace will be poured out in spiritual fruits upon our country, upon our families, upon the recipients of our apostolate and upon all of us.”