The First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church

The First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church

June 30, 2023

Weekday The First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church Gn 17:1, 9-10, 15-22/Mt 8:1-4 (375).

*Young Christian Martyr – Delaroche (see above painting)

A pale young woman, wearing a white dress, drowns with tied hands for her Faith. A bright halo floats above the martyr’s head. In the darkness behind the woman, two dark figures, possibly the martyr’s parents, stand embracing each other on a dark cliff. A few orange gleams of sunlight show in the sky. Artwork by nineteenth-century artist, P. Delaroche.

**The First Martyrs of the Church of Rome were Christians martyred in the city of Rome during Nero‘s persecution in 64. The event is recorded by both Tacitus and Pope Clement I, among others. They are celebrated in the Roman Catholic Church as an optional memorial on 30 June.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Martyrs_of_the_Church_of_Rome

***According to early Christian tradition[edit]

With some historical attestation within a hundred years of the event[edit]

• Polycarp of Smyrna^[16]
• Justin Martyr^[17]
• Scillitan Martyrs^[18]
• Perpetua and Felicity^[19]
• Ptolemaeus and Lucius^[20]
• Pothinus, bishop of Lyon, with Blandina and several others, the “Martyrs of Lyon and Vienne“^[21][22]
• Pope Fabian^[23]
• Sebastian^[24]
• Shmona and Gurya^[25]
• Agnes of Rome^[26]
• Felix and Adauctus^[27]
• Marcellinus and Peter^[28]
• Forty Martyrs of Sebaste^[29]
• Euphemia^[30]
• Cyprian^[31]

With some historical attestation more than a hundred years after the event[edit]

• Saint Alban^[32]
• Ignatius of Antioch^[33]
• Gelasinus^[34]
• Saint Pancras^[35]
• Saint Valentine^[36]
• Saint Petronilla^[37]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Christian_martyrs

At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.”  

Mt 11:25