According to ancient tradition, they were a Persian family — husband, wife, and two sons — who traveled to Rome around the year 270 to venerate the tombs of the apostles. There they cared for imprisoned Christians and buried the bodies of martyrs during a time of persecution, until they themselves were arrested and put to death for the faith. They have been honored in Rome on this day since the early centuries of the Church.
They remind us that holiness can belong to a whole family together — parents and children serving Christ side by side, comforting the suffering and honoring the dead. Their love did not stop at their own household; it reached out to strangers in prison and to those the world had discarded.
Lord, who gave Saints Marius, Martha, Audifax and Abachum the grace to serve You as one family, keep our families united in faith and love, on earth and in heaven. Amen.