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Show I "The Blood of Martyrs Is the Seed of Christians." Some time during the present year, says -Home," the Sacred Congregation of Rites will make progress with a singularly sin-gularly interesting cause of beatification beatifica-tion belonging to our own times. It is only 26 years ago since the king of Uganda, in Central Africa, began a fierce persecution of the Christians. "The history of past persecutions," wrote Cardinal Lavigerie, the great apostle of Africa, "presents nothing more touching or more wonderful than the events of this persecution. One of the leading personages of Uganda who had become a Christian, after having had his hands and feet ferociously amputated, am-putated, was left hanging by the hair over burning coals and during his agony of three days never uttered a lament, only towards the end repeating the words of Our Savior on the Cross: T thirst.' Twenty others, hardly out of their adolescence, died by being slowly roasted on gridirons, repeating the great words: 'We will pray as long as we have breath.' Altogether one hundred young men suffered death for the faith while the persecution lasted." |