People constantly search for the elixir of life. But they are disillusioned soon about every elixir advertised seeing their futility. But the true elixir of life Christ proposed “those, who sacrifice life for higher principles, will gain it” is feared by people. Only a few martyr spirited people practice and gain that abundant life even here.
The recent Russian martyrs put that principle of Christ into practice in jails, Gulags and collective farms under harshest conditions. The number of such Russian martyrs exceeded the total number of martyrs before from the inception of Christianity. Still common people fear to practice that Christian principle. Their instinct to hold on to fleeting earthly life bars them. That barrier can be eroded slowly by contemplating martyrs’ lives. That is a real sacrament to get control over ourselves. No church sacrament can match it as I have found out.
So, orthodox churches encourage veneration of martyrs. It is a good practice. But people prefer non-martyr miracle working easy saint’s not heroic martyrs. If they get direct worldly outward miraculous benefit from them they venerate otherwise not. But miracles don’t regenerate them. Rather it often spoils as we have seen. Only the martyric self-sacrificing attitude can regenerate them by giving spiritual health. That ensures body health too.
So the most heroic martyrs of Christ are avoided to our loss. Those who really want to live abundantly here and in eternity must rectify that. Those who want to conform to world can’t do that. Churches neglecting them never regenerate people. They then become religious opiate servers or at best social centers. Religious opiate server churches may become popular as catholic and orthodox churches sometimes are. But they can’t survive testing and time. Even their priests remain degenerate. So such orthodox churches were almost wiped out in communist countries. Protestant churches are desolate too. Most Russian martyrs left those communist stooge churches as they cared little for opiates but for the principles of Christ. If they cared for the opiates then communist stooge churches had plenty of that.
Soon the Atomic war cataclysm is coming for humanity's’ rebellion against Christian principles. Only the martyrs can save their souls by love-integrating their soul parts by obeying 2nd commandment. Even prison, torture, labor camps and starvation diet can’t stop that obedience. Christ will integrate them with him, not those who call him “Lord! Lord!” Then time and tribulation can’t break them apart. That is eternal life and salvation.