Feast day: July 10

The Seven Holy Brothers

Martyrs · d. c. 150

Patron of —

Seven brothers, by tradition the sons of the Roman martyr St. Felicity, who were put to death one after another for their faith in the early persecutions, their mother encouraging each.

The Seven Holy Brothers were, by ancient Roman tradition, the seven sons of St. Felicity, a noble Christian widow of Rome, all of whom were martyred for the faith in the second century, during the reign of the emperor Antoninus or Marcus Aurelius.

According to their acts, the pagan priests grew alarmed at the spread of Christianity and blamed the influence of the devout Felicity and her family. She and her seven sons were brought before the authorities and commanded to sacrifice to the gods. The mother encouraged each of her boys, in turn, to stand firm, preferring to see them die faithful than live as apostates.

One after another the seven brothers — whose names tradition gives as Januarius, Felix, Philip, Silvanus, Alexander, Vitalis, and Martial — refused, and each was put to death by a different means, before their mother was martyred last of all. The story became a Christian echo of the Old Testament account of the mother and her seven sons in the Books of Maccabees.

The discovery of the ancient tomb of one of the brothers in the Roman catacombs has confirmed the historical core beneath the legend. They are honoured together as a family of martyrs and a model of a mother's faith stronger than death.

Their story echoes the Old Testament mother of the Maccabees — a mother watching all seven sons die rather than deny God, and counted a martyr with them.

Image: artist unknown (Public domain), via Wikimedia Commons.

Source: newadvent.org/cathen/06028a.htm