19th January is the day for remembering the story
of Marius and Martha, a married couple who were martyred for their faith during
the reign of Emperor Claudius in the 1st century.
They lived in Persia and were extremely wealthy. However, as
Christians they realised that they had a duty to help the poor and gave all their
fortune away.
They travelled to Rome along with their sons Audifax and
Abachum, but arrived in the middle of an orgy of bloodletting as Claudius
carried out a wide-ranging persecution of Christians. This was done by herding
all the captured Christians into an amphitheatre, killing them, and then
burning all the bodies.
The family from Persia escaped this purge but decided to do
what they could to respect the victims. They therefore gathered all the ashes
and gave them a Christian burial. This action was enough to condemn them and
they suffered the same fate as the martyrs who had preceded them, although
without the burning. They in turn were given a respectful burial by other
Christians.
During the 14th century it was believed that
their bones had been discovered and these then became holy relics which were
distributed in churches throughout Europe.
© John Welford
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