5 brave martyrs who were beheaded for believing in God

Today, we are looking at female saints who were not just killed but had their heads cut off for simply devoting themselves to their Heavenly Father.

Here are five martyrs who were beheaded for believing in God.

St. Cecilia

Cecilia was a noblewoman and an early Christian believer in Rome. Once she gave her life to Christ, she vowed to a life of celibacy.

Unfortunately for her, this did not agree with her father who wanted her to be married. He ended up forcing her to marry a pagan named Valerian.

On their wedding night, she refused to consummate their marriage unless he converted to Christianity. She had two reasons — the first was that she wanted to remain chaste for God and the second was the angel who guarded her body. She told her husband he could only see the angel if he was really sincere about converting.

Valerian ended up converting, along with his brother Tiburtius. Reportedly, they both saw Cecilia’s angel. This was just the first in the hundreds of people that converted because of her.

Her death came under Emperor Marcus Aurelius, who beheaded her husband, brothers, and Cecilia for refusing to sacrifice to the gods.

Unlike the others, Cecilia‘s beheading was not a clean cut. The executioner had to try at least three times before giving up. Eventually, she died after three days of losing too much blood from the wounds.

Catherine of Alexandria

Catherine died at an early age after preaching and converting hundreds to Christianity when she was just 18 years old.

Her death came after she challenged the ruler who reacted by asking her to debate with 50 of the best pagan philosophers.

She won and ended up converting more people in the process. Sadly, Catherine was imprisoned and sentenced to death by the breaking wheel. During her time in prison, she converted her visitors which included the emperor’s wife.

When it was time for her to be killed, the breaking wheel kept falling to pieces whenever she came in contact with it. She was later beheaded.

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Lucy Yi Zhenmei

This story is different from others because Lucy was born into a Catholic home, unlike the others who were born into pagan homes.

Despite this difference, she was just as brave as the others because she chose to preach the gospel even though she knew the risks.

She was eventually killed in 1861 while establishing a mission in Jiashan Long. She was arrested and beheaded, along with the others in the mission.

Saint Dymphna

She was born in Northern Ireland to a Christian mother and a pagan father who happened to be king.

Her troubles began at the age of 14 when she dedicated herself to God and took a vow of celibacy.

This was the same time that her mother died and her father decided to marry her because he wanted a woman who looked exactly like his late wife.

In order to keep her promise to God, Dymphna ran away from home. She was found by her father, who beheaded her for refusing his final demand for marriage. She died at 15 years old.

Saint Winefride

Winefride is also known as Lourdes of Wales. She was born to Tyfid ap Eiludd, and his wife Wenlo.

Her mother’s sister, Saint Beuno and abbess aunt by the name of Tenoi both played major roles in her decision to be a Christian and a nun.

This decision upset Caradog, a prince she was supposed to marry. In a fit of rage, this prince cut off her head with his sword.

Luckily for Winefride, her head was picked and placed back on her body by her uncle. Before this happened, her head is said to have caused an earthquake and a spring of water after it rolled down a hill.

She ended up living for a while and becoming the abbess of Shrewsbury Abbey before her final death. Medieval manuscripts say that the beheading left a large scar on her neck.

Sadly, many Christians are still suffering for their faith. Open Doors reports that 322 Christians are killed every month.