CORPUS CHRISTI, TX (Catholic Online) - Memorial Day is a day set apart to thank those men and women of our military who have given their lives in the service of this country.  We recall a splendid truth in both natural and supernatural realms: "Greater love has no man than this: that a man lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)  To give one's life in defense of others is a superlative example of the "Law of the Gift." 

Let us then be thankful for our fallen dead.  It is right and just.

To be sure, Memorial Day is a time to spend with our families, neighbors, and friends.  But we should also not neglect to pray for those who have fallen.  We may follow the good example of one righteous Jewish general, Judas "the Hammer" Maccabaeus, who offered expiatory sacrifice for his fallen troops.  "In doing this, he acted in a very excellent and noble way," the Scriptures tell us, "inasmuch as he had the resurrection of the dead in view; for if he were not expecting the fallen to rise again, it would have been useless and foolish to pray for them in death."  (2 Macc. 12:38-46) 

Let us then pray for our fallen dead.  It is right and just.

Judas Maccabaeus was a precursor of those saints of God who are known as the athletae Christi, the champions of Christ.  In iconography, these military saints are typically shown in full military regalia, with the implements of war, often mounted on horseback. 

Who are these athletae Christi, these champions of Christ?  In this short article, it is impossible to name them all, much less tell all their stories and their edifying witness, but we may name some and say a few words about them.

We may start with those champions of Christ that are found within the sheaves of the New Testament: St. Cornelius and St. Longinus. 

St. Cornelius was a Roman centurion portrayed in the Book of Acts as a God-fearing Gentile.  Seeking instruction, he received a vision directing him to send some of his men to Joppa where they would find Simon Peter, who was then staying at the household of Simon the tanner.  Before Cornelius's men arrived, St. Peter himself received the three-fold visions that instructed him that the Gentiles were to be embraced by the Church. 

Later, when Cornelius himself came to Peter, he fell before Peter, and Peter gently admonished him: "Stand up.  I myself am a man."  Instructed by Peter, Cornelius and his entire household accepted the faith, were baptized, and were saved.  (Acts 10, 11).  St. Cornelius, our first military saint, our first athleta Christi, has the honor of being the first Christian among the Gentiles.  Later, he abandoned his military duties and is reputed to have become the first bishop of Caesarea.

St. Longinus, another New Testament soldier, is the traditional name given to the Roman soldier who pierced Christ's side with his lance.  He is also identified with the soldier of the Gospels who testified, "Truly, this man was the son of God."  (Matt. 27:54; Mark 15:39)  His participation in the crucifixion led to his conversion, and his acceptance of the Son of God as his Lord and Savior.   His faith in Christ eventually led to his martyrdom.

Beyond the pages of the Scriptures we enter into the area of hagiography, where fact and fiction are often intertwined, and it is difficult to sort out the factual from the fabulous.  But the annals of the Church is full of these champions of Christ.

We might start with St. Procopius of Scythopolis, who is mentioned in the ecclesiastical history of Eusebius of Caesarea who writes of this megalomartyr's martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian.  There is a tradition unmentioned by Eusebius that places St. Procopius among the champions of Christ. 

St. Procopius (whose birth name was Neanias) was born in 303 A.D. of a Christian father and pagan mother; however, his father died shortly after his birth and so he was raised pagan.  He joined the Roman army during Diocletian's reign.  Neanias was ordered by his superiors to go to Alexandria to exterminate the Christians in that town.  But while en route, Neanias was awakened from sleep by what seemed like an earthquake.  In a manner redolent of St. Paul's experience in Damascus, Jesus appeared to Neanias, spoke to him, and showed him the image of his cross. 
The event entirely transformed him. 

Instead of going to Alexandria to slaughter Christians, he went to Jerusalem to protect it against the Bedouin Agarians who were attacking that city.  When his conversion to Christ was discovered, he was brought before governor of Caesarea, before whom he ...