It is interesting when studying the lives of Saints in times of immense persecution prior to the era of Constantine - and then studying those in the Constanine era (including the Desert Fathers) over the following 3 centuries...and then seeing what occurred in the Byzantine Empire and even seeing what occured with other Saints since then.
To say war was ever "just" is something I have not fully seen yet or been convinced of ....and of course, that all comes down to how "just" is defined. But again, I'm processing still. As said before, the perspective of soldiers (or anyone else in a position where violent force is a necessity at times - from the policeman to the father defending his home/family) is something that should be considered more...and thankfully, history gives a lot of interesting reviews on the matter. Especially when considering the perspectives of others who were soldiers and yet believers from an Eastern/Byzantine background and having a different view on what it means to battle (like
Alexander Peresvet St. Alexander Nevsky or St. Sergius or
St. Mercurius' and others who understood the concept of battle as a necessary struggle,
here/
here ).
The military saints/warrior saints, such as
Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki (more
here) or
Saint Mercurius and
how he (as a soldier) chose to die for Christ. and later
St. Alexander Nevsky in the Russian world...their lives differ radically from what occurred with Fr. Zosima and St. Mary of Egypt (her account being a touching story of a woman who finds God in the desert. .
The Life of Saint Irene Chrysovalantou - amazing as it was - would not be the same in experience of walking out holiness as with what occurred in
Perpetua, who lived during the time of a great persecution of Christianity at the turn of the third century in Carthage, Northern Africa (now Tunisia) and who
truly encouraged the saints by her testimony, noted in "
The Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity", written before she was martyred in the time of Emperor Septimius Severus.
The life of St.Moses the Black - whom I have been inspired by when it comes to working with those from crime/gang culture and rough backgrounds (more h
ere/
here ) - would not be the same as the life
of Justin Martyr or Tertulian who has discussed Christian loyalty to the Emperor,
whoever he may be...something that many other Saints may've disagreed on when it came to politics/various expressions of how one's faith in the Kingdom was lived out.
They all had a myriad of experiences where faith in the Lord was displayed in differing ways - and differing concepts seemed to be in place more so at times than others. Again, it seems the lives of Saints who were soldiers were different from those Saints who were Monastics or being persecuted/not having some of the same decisions - even though certain principles were transcendent/applicable to all. Seeing that has helped me see the reality of how living out your walk in the Lord will never look exactly the same as others who came before you - and thus, you find out how to not compare yourself to others.
It'd be like trying to take the life of Noah (if you were Moses) and thinking that you were not doing a good enough job with what you were assigned to do in your era with leadership in the wilderness/setting God's people free from Egypt.....and then finding yourself building a boat and telling others "Well Noad did this when God commanded him and he found favor with God as being set apart!!"...despite the fact that both Noah and Moses were in relationship with the Lord and had unique experiences neither shared - and for Moses to look back at Noah/try to emulate all aspects of what he did would not be good, just like it'd not be good for Esther to look back on Daniel (as they were contemporaries in the Persian Empire during the Jewish Diaspora for 70yrs) and assume she was not good enough in her actions because she wasn't doing fully what Daniel did in the courts - even though her actions differed from him and were necessary for where she was. All of those saints are in the Book of Hebrews (
Hebrews 11 ) - the GREAT Hall of Faith - and yet they're all a part of God's story of what sainthood looks like.
And likewise, it does seem to be the same today when it comes to each of us living our lives where the Lord has us - and seeking to do things one day at a time remembering what happened before us...but still remaining faithful to know that it could be the case that even those who came before us would potentially be looking at us today wondering how we'd be just as we wonder how to be like them.