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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 235
and even among the Kosicrucians, Latin rituals, though
not those used in the Catholic Church, are in vogue at the
services.
QUESTION No. 117.
What is the actual merit in martyrdom? Did the mar-
tyrs really become saints'?
Answer: Man lifts himself to a union with God through
four great steps or stages. First he prays to or sacri-
fices to a God whom he fears and, therefore, seeks to
propitiate, so that his God will not harm him. Next he
learns to look upon this God as a mighty ally against his
enemies and as a giver of all good things to him, that is,
provided he obeys the God and sacrifices to him of the
material things which he possesses. In the third step he is
taught to sacrifice himself by living a life of righteous-
ness, and expects to be rewarded in a future state called
heaven, where he is to live in eternal happiness as a com-
pensation for whatever he may have endured during earth
life. The martyrs were at the stage where they held this
belief, and were thoroughly imbued with the verity and
glory of heaven. Therefore, it was to them an easy mat-