Saints Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachum (died 270) were, according to their largely legendary ''passio'' of the 6th century, four saints of the same family (a married couple and their two sons). They came from

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, and were

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...

ed in 270 for sympathizing with Christian martyrs and burying their bodies. Some ancient

martyrologies A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beatification, beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were ...

place the date of their death between 268 and 270, during the reign of

Claudius II Marcus Aurelius Claudius "Gothicus" (10 May 214 – January/April 270), also known as Claudius II, was Roman emperor from 268 to 270. During his reign he fought successfully against the Alemanni and decisively defeated the Goths at the Battle ...

, although there was no persecution of Christians during this time.Santi Mario, Marta, Abaco e Audiface
/ref> Their story relates how the family's assistance to Christians exposed them to persecution. They were seized and delivered to the judge Muscianus or Marcianus, who, unable to persuade them to

abjure Abjuration is the solemn repudiation, abandonment, or renunciation by or upon oath, often the renunciation of citizenship or some other right or privilege. The term comes from the Latin ''abjurare'', "to forswear". Abjuration of the realm Abj ...

their faith, condemned them to various tortures. Despite the torture, the saints refused to abjure. Marius and his two sons were thus

beheaded Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...

on the

Via Cornelia Via Cornelia is an ancient Roman road that supposedly ran east–west along the northern wall of the Circus of Nero on land now covered by the southern wall of St. Peter's Basilica. The location is closely associated with the Via Aurelia and the Vi ...

, and their bodies were burnt. Martha meanwhile was killed at a place called ''in Nimpha'' or Nymphae Catabassi (later called Santa Ninfa), thirteen miles from

. Tradition states that Martha was cast into a well.

Veneration

According to tradition, a Roman lady named Felicitas secured the half-consumed remains of the father and sons and also the mother's body from the well, and had the sacred

relics In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

secretly interred on her estate at ''Buxus'', today ''Boccea''. This is said to have occurred on January 20. A church arose at Boccea, and during the Middle Ages, it became a place of

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

. The

of the martyrs later suffered various vicissitudes: some were transferred to the churches of

Sant'Adriano al Foro Sant'Adriano al Foro was a church in Rome, formerly in the Curia Julia in the '' Forum Romanum'' and a cardinal-deaconry (a titular church for a Cardinal-deacon). The church The Church of Sant'Adriano al Foro (Italian for St. (H)Adrian at ...

and

Santa Prassede The Basilica of Saint Praxedes ( la, Basilica Sanctae Praxedis, it, Basilica di Santa Prassede all’Esquillino), commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an early medieval titular church and minor basilica located near the papal basilic ...

, in

, and part of these relics were sent to

Eginhard Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; la, E(g)inhardus; 775 – 14 March 840) was a Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ''Vita ...

, biographer of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

, who lodged them in the monastery of

Seligenstadt Seligenstadt is a town in the Offenbach (district), Offenbach district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Darmstadt (region), Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Seligenstadt is one of Germany's oldest towns and was already of great importance in Carolingian ...

. Some relics went to

Prüm Abbey Prüm Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey in Prüm, now in the diocese of Trier (Germany), founded by the Frankish widow Bertrada the elder and her son Charibert, Count of Laon, in 721. The first abbot was Angloardus. The Abbey ruled over a va ...

where their presence was recorded in the early 11th century. The original

reliquary A reliquary (also referred to as a ''shrine'', by the French term ''châsse'', and historically including ''wikt:phylactery, phylacteries'') is a container for relics. A portable reliquary may be called a ''fereter'', and a chapel in which it i ...

chest was destroyed during the French occupation at the end of the 18th century. The current chest dates from the 19th century. The martyrs are inscribed in the current

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...

on 19 January. Their feast or commemoration was included on that date in the

General Roman Calendar The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These celebra ...

from the 9th century to 1969, when they were excluded because nothing is known with certainty about them except their names, their place of burial (the cemetery ''Ad Nymphas'' on the Via Cornelia), and the day of their burial (19 or 20 January).''Calendarium Romanum'', Typis Polyglottis Vaticanis, 1969, p. 113

References

;Sources *

Holweck, F. G. Frederick George Holweck (born Friedrich Georg Holweck; 29 December 1856 – 15 February 1927) was a German-American Catholic parish priest and scholar, hagiographer and church historian. Monsignor Holweck contributed some articles to the ''Catho ...

, ''A Biographical Dictionary of the Saints''. St. Louis, MO: B. Herder, 1924.

External links

''Catholic Encyclopedia'' entry on the family

Santi Mario, Marta, Abaco e Audiface
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marius, Martha, Abachum and Audifax 3rd-century births 270 deaths Ante-Nicene Christian female saints Persian saints 3rd-century Christian martyrs Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era Iranian families