Optional Memorial
First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church
- Feast day
- June 30
- Origin
- Italian
Life
This memorial honors the first Christians martyred in Rome under Emperor Nero after the great fire of 64 AD. Falsely blamed for the blaze, they were subjected to horrific public executions, some torn by animals and others burned alive, as the Roman historian Tacitus records. They are commemorated the day after the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, who also died in Nero's persecution.
The saint of the day, every day
Bosko shows you the saint the Church honors today, every day — their story, today's feast, and where they fall in your tradition's liturgical calendar, so a feast that matters to you never quietly slips past.