👑This holy family, consisting of Marius, his wife Martha, and their sons Audifax and Abachus, was of noble Persian origin. Moved by a profound faith, they traveled to Rome in the 3rd century, during the reign of Emperor Claudius II, with the purpose of venerating the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul and the martyrs. Upon arriving in the city, they found the persecution in full swing and dedicated themselves with great charity to helping the Christians: they visited the confessors of the faith in prison, encouraged them, and gave a dignified burial to the bodies of those who had been martyred. Their pious activity was reported to the pagan authorities. Arrested, they were brought to trial and urged to sacrifice to idols. Faced with their firm and unanimous refusal, they were subjected to cruel tortures. Remaining steadfast in their faith, they were all condemned to death and beheaded on the Via Cornelia around the year 270. Their bodies were collected by a pious matron named Felicity and buried on her property, where a church was later erected in their honor.
🕯️Introit (Ps 67:4, 2)
Justi epuléntur et ex súltent in conspéctu Dei et delecténtur in lætítia. Ps. ibid., 2. Exsúrgat Deus, et dissipéntur inimíci ejus: et fúgiant qui odérunt eum, a fácie ejus.
Let the just feast and rejoice before God, and be delighted with gladness. Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered: and let them that hate Him flee from before His face.
📖Epistle (Heb 10:32-38)
Brethren: Call to mind the former days, wherein, being illuminated, you endured a great fight of afflictions. And on the one hand indeed, by reproaches and tribulations, were made a gazingstock; and on the other, became companions of them that were used in such sort. For you both had compassion on them that were in bands, and took with joy the being stripped of your own goods, knowing that you have a better and a lasting substance. Do not therefore lose your confidence, which hath a great reward. For patience is necessary for you; that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise. For yet a little and a very little while, and he that is to come, will come, and will not delay. But my just man liveth by faith.
✝️Gospel (Mt 24:3-13)
At that time: When Jesus was sitting on the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying: Tell us when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the consummation of the world? And Jesus answering, said to them: Take heed that no man seduce you: For many will come in my name saying, I am Christ: and they will seduce many. And you shall hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that ye be not troubled. For these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be pestilences, and famines, and earthquakes in places: Now all these are the beginnings of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall put you to death: and you shall be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be scandalized: and shall betray one another: and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall seduce many. And because iniquity hath abounded, the charity of many shall grow cold. But he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved.
🛡️Perseverance in Faith in the Face of the Final Tribulation
🕊️Today's liturgy presents us with the heroic witness of an entire family that embodied the warnings of the Gospel and the encouragements of the Epistle. Saints Marius, Martha, Audifax, and Abachus not only heard Christ's words about future persecutions but lived them in their own flesh. The Gospel of St. Matthew describes a scenario of tribulation, hatred for Christ's name, and the cooling of charity, culminating in the promise: "he that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved." This perseverance is not mere passive resistance but an active virtue, fueled by faith and hope. St. Augustine, commenting on perseverance, teaches that it is the gift of God that crowns all other gifts, for it would be of no use to begin well if one did not reach the end. He explains: "He that shall persevere to the end, he shall be saved. Let no one expect salvation from Christ, if he does not persevere in Christ to the end. Not the end of the world, but the end of his life" (St. Augustine, Sermon 100). The Persian martyr family understood that the "end" was their final testimony. The Epistle to the Hebrews reveals the spiritual source of this fortitude: they knew they possessed "a better and a lasting substance." They accepted "with joy the being stripped of your own goods" and became "companions of them that were used in such sort," precisely because their faith gave them the certainty of an eternal reward, a confidence which "hath a great reward." The Catechism of the Catholic Church reaffirms that "martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith" (CCC 2473), an act of fortitude that conforms the disciple to the Master. In a world where "iniquity hath abounded" and "the charity of many shall grow cold," the act of Marius and his family of burying the martyrs was in itself a burning flame of love, defying the world's hatred. They not only persevered in their personal faith but also in active charity, the distinctive sign of a Christian. Their life and death are, therefore, a living homily on the necessity of patience and unwavering faith to attain the promise of God, becoming a shining example for the Church of all times, which continually faces its own tribulations on its way to the consummation of the world.
➡️See English version of the critical articles here.
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