St. Maximilian
Martyr (d. 295)
St. Maximilian, a third-century martyr in North Africa, was killed for refusing to serve in the Roman army. He was twenty-one when he was brought before the court of the Roman proconsul and charged with refusing conscription. Maximilian explained: “I cannot enlist for I am a Christian. I cannot serve, I cannot do evil.” When told that he must serve or die, Maximilian replied, “I will never serve. You can cut off my head but I will not be a soldier of this world, for I am a soldier of Christ.” Asked who had put such wild ideas in his head, Maximilian answered, “My conscience and He who has called me.” When the proconsul warned that in punishment for this disobedience he could be “sent to your Christ at once,” Maximilian said that he could ask for nothing better: “Do it quickly, for there is my glory.”
In worshiping Christ, Maximilian was charged not only with disobeying his military office but with impiety—disrespect for the gods of Rome. His sentence read: “Maximilian has refused the military oath through impiety.” After hearing that he was to be beheaded, Maximilian cried out: “God liveth.”
The sentence was carried out immediately.
“My army is the army of God, and I cannot fight for this world.”
—St. Maximilian