The First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church

In July of the year 64 a great fire destroyed much of Rome. To silence rumors that he had started it, Emperor Nero blamed the Christians, a small community that already included Jews and Gentiles. The Roman historian Tacitus records that a vast multitude were arrested and killed: some were dressed in animal skins and torn apart by dogs, others were crucified, and others were set on fire to light Nero's gardens at night.

Their names are known only to God. Saint Clement of Rome, writing about thirty years later, remembered the great multitude of the elect who suffered many torments and became a splendid example among us. They were the first fruits of the Church of Rome, sown by the preaching of Peter and Paul. The feast was added to the General Roman Calendar in 1969, placed on the day after the solemnity of the two apostles.

The Vatican itself stands near the site of Nero's circus, where many of these martyrs died, and the obelisk in Saint Peter's Square once stood in that circus. Pilgrims to Rome remember them when they pray at Saint Peter's tomb.

The feast is a reminder to pray for Christians who are persecuted today.