Confessor and died in peace. A notable example of this usage is the English king St. Edward the Confessor. During the Diocletianic Persecution, a number of Christians had, under torture or threat of torture, weakened in their profession of the faith. When the persecutions ceased under Constantine the Great, they wanted to be reunited with the Church. It became the practice of the penitents to go to the Confessors, those who had willingly suffered for the faith and survived, to plead their case and effect their restoration to communion. Thus, the word has come to denote any priest who has been
Blessed Be the Host of the King of Heaven Blessed Be the Host of the King of Heaven Blessed Be the Host of the Heavenly Tsar (Благословенно воинство Небесного Царя), also known as the Ecclesia militans ("The Church Militant"), is a grand Russian Orthodox icon commemorating the conquest of Kazan by Ivan IV of Russia (1552). Measuring almost four meters in width, "Ecclesia militans" is one of the largest icons ever produced in medieval Russia. It has been attributed to Ivan's confessor Andrew (later known as Athanasius, Metropolitan of Moscow). The icon shows Ivan the Terrible as he follows the Archangel Michael in leading the triumphant Russian troops away