Saints Flora and Mary--Betrayed by their Families and Martyred for their Faith

IT MAKES SENSE TO ME

By Larry Peterson

Many people have suffered the heartache and pain of being betrayed by someone close them, oftentimes a family member. There is a saint we can all turn to for spiritual and moral support when or if this ever happens to us. Her name is Flora and she and her best friend, Mary, died together for the faith they loved.

During the 9th century, the Muslims invaded and conquered large parts of what is today, Spain. One area was known as Al-Andalus. It was from this conquered area where forty-eight Christians were put to death for their faith. These are known as the Martyrs of Cordoba. These people were executed from 851 to 859. They were all convicted of violating Sharia law, their crimes ranging from apostasy to blasphemy (apostasy is proclaiming another faith other than Islam and blasphemy is denouncing Muhammad or anything Muslim. All carry the death penalty).

Among these brave Christians who stood tall for their faith while knowingly facing such horrendous consequences were two young women; one was named Flora, the other, Maria.

Flora's was born to a Muslim father and a Christian mom. When she was still a child her father died and her mom raised her as a Christian. She had an older brother who was Muslim and as she grew older he tried to convert her to Islam.  Flora was adamant that she would not turn against Jesus. Her brother, exasperated, turned her into the authorities. Flora was sent to a prison and a Muslim scholar was assigned to convert her to Islam. Somehow Flora escaped and made her way to Christian settlements.

During this same time, Mary had been born to a Christian father, who was also a deacon in the church, and a Muslim mom. Her mom had been baptized a short time after getting married. Mary's parents, fearing being charged as "apostates", left their home and headed to a town considered a safer place, Fronianus.  It was shortly thereafter that Mary's mother died.

Mary's dad, fearful for his daughter's safety, sent her to a convent in a place called Cuteclara. While praying at St. Acislus Church she met Flora, who arrived around the same time. They had much in common. Flora's Muslim brother wanted to have her killed as an apostate. Mary's dad had just been executed.

A genuine and deep friendship quickly developed between the two young women and they became inseparable.  The convent's Mother Superior told Maria how her two sons were executed by the Muslims thirty years earlier and how they had made her watch them as they suffered and died. Maria was horrified and the story was foremost in her thoughts. Flora and Mary, fortified by their profound Christian faith and the strength they shared through their deep friendship, decided to turn themselves into the Muslim authorities. They would suffer and die together for Jesus.

In the culture of that time to be branded a prostitute was considered worse than death. The Muslim court, in an attempt to break the two women, sentenced them to a brothel so they would have to endure the shame and humiliation of being a prostitute. Flora and Maria never wavered from their values and faith. They were beaten and scourged but never gave in. The authorities gave up and they were taken out and beheaded. Both girls are listed in the Roman Martyrology.

St. Flora is known as the patron saint of those who have been betrayed. After her dad passed on Flora's own brother tried to convert her to Islam and, having failed, turned her over to the authorities knowing full well she would be put to death. I cannot imagine having my own brother turn me in knowing I would suffer death at the hands of an executioner. Flora did pray for her brother before she was killed. A role model of forgiveness for us all

                                 copyright ©Larry Peterson 2017

Meet Martin Wani, an American Baby in a Sudanese Prison: Where is His #Hashtag?

by Larry Peterson

Meriam Ibrahim is a 26-year old doctor from Sudan. She married a Christian man, Daniel Wani,  in 2011 and they have an 18-month old child. His name is Martin.  Meriam is now eight months pregnant with their second child but she has a "little" problem.  She has been sentenced to death by hanging;  her crime---  "apostasy". She must have forgotten that her long, lost father (who she had never seen after her sixth birthday) was a Muslim.  Therefore, she was not allowed, under Sharia law,  to marry a Christian man.  Once she did that  she was considered to have  rejected Islam and became an "apostate".  That is a big "NO-NO" in Sharia world, especially if you are a woman.  If you are a wife, a mom, and almost due to give birth to another child, that is just too bad.  You are an "apostate" and must be destroyed.

 Meriam was dragged into court and told she must repent of her sins. She refused and was promptly sentenced to death by hanging (no lethal injections in Sudan).  Oh yeah, she was also sentenced to 100 lashes for committing "zena" which is Arabic for illegitimate sex. She committed this evil act with her husband who, being a Christian man, automatically morphed Meriam into an adulteress. Meriam was steadfast and again and again refused to repent.  She told the judge, "I am a Christian and I never committed apostasy."  She may not hang because she will  have to  survive the l00 lashes that come first.  The sentence is to be carried out after her baby is born.

There is another piece of  Meriam's story that for some reason seems to have been  ignored. Her husband is a South Sudanese Christian who became a naturalized American citizen in 2011.  His wife has been imprisoned for marrying him and  their 18-month old son  is in prison with her. Why? Because daddy  is a Christian and the child will NEVER be given over to an "infidel".  Meriam and  Martin have been denied medical care and the father has been refused access to his own son.

By virtue of his father's American citizenship, the child is also an American citizen. The father said that officials at the U.S. Embassy in Khartoum have told him that he must prove he is the father with a DNA test before they try to help him. Are you KIDDING me?  An American citizen who happens to be a "toddler" less than two years old is being left to languish in a Sudanese prison with his mom while she awaits torture and death for being married to his father. And American officials tell the boy's dad, "Prove he is your son."  HUH!!!!!

We all have heard about the maniacal Islamist group called Boko Haram.  They are the ones who kidnapped the 300 young girls from their school and destroyed all the buildings. They are also the ones who a few weeks earlier had enclosed a schoolroom filled with young boys and burned them to death with "fire hoses".  Fifty-nine bodies, some just a pile of ashes, were recovered.  Many were, besides being burned, also shot.  These stories of Christian persecution, torture and murder and the continued and ongoing Islamic attempt to annihilate Christianity are daily events around the world.  Christians face untold horrors in countries such as China, Pakistan, North Korea, Iran, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and other places.

Meriam Ibrahim and her American baby son, Martin, are just an example of what individual people go through who follow Christ.  Martin Wani is less than two years old. He is an American citizen because of his dad's naturalization.  Where is the outcry from the United States of America?  Where are the #Hashtags for Meriam and Martin. Since when does the USA allow their own little children to be incarcerated in  a foreign prison with his mom who is awaiting execution.  The war on Christianity and Christians continues. It seems that the government of the USA is helping it to succeed.  It is all so hard to believe.