During the time of Herod, Christians were persecuted, killing with the sword, stoning, making the human bodies into torches. There were martyrs in England under the reign of "Bloody Mary".
Among them we saw James whom Herod killed with the sword; and Stephen whom they stoned; in fact, nearly all the apostles were there. We saw also Latimer and Thomas Hawks and a hundred beside who had suffered in England as martyrs under the reign of her who was called "Bloody Mary." But they with the thousands of others who had sealed their testimony with their own blood, were the most joyful of all men whom I had met in all the heavenly domain. During the course of the exercises of the occasion and the joyful and exultant praises from this great army of saints over whom neither fire, sword, nor prison could avail to turn them aside from the holy confession of Jesus, I kept thinking of that Scripture where in the Revelation of St. John he says: "I saw the souls of them who were beheaded for the witness of Jesus and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, nor in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years." (Revelation 20:4)
GO to Chap 20, Martyred Saints in Heaven for more
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