Saints Aquila and Priscilla

Aquila, a Jew from Pontus, and his wife Priscilla (also called Prisca) lived in Rome until Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from the city around the year 49. They settled in Corinth, where Saint Paul met them. Since they shared his trade as tentmakers, he lived and worked with them, and they became his close collaborators, as the Acts of the Apostles tells in chapter 18.

They went with Paul to Ephesus, where they took aside the eloquent preacher Apollos and "explained to him the Way of God more accurately." A church gathered in their house in Ephesus and later in Rome. Paul greeted them warmly in his letters, saying they had risked their necks for his life and that all the churches of the Gentiles were grateful to them. They are an example of a married couple who served the Gospel together, at work, at home and in the community.

Their memory on July 8 is especially dear to married couples, Christian families and lay ministers. Some parishes take the day to bless spouses or to celebrate couples who serve in marriage preparation, catechesis and hospitality ministries.