Saints Chrysanthus & Daria, Martyrs
Ss. Chrysanthi et Dariae Martyrum
Saints Chrysanthus and Daria were martyrs of the early Church at Rome, honoured together from ancient times and buried on the Salarian Way.
On the twenty-fifth of October the Church commemorates Saints Chrysanthus and Daria, martyrs whose memory has been honoured at Rome from early ages. They are named in the ancient martyrologies among those who gave their lives for Christ, and they were buried on the Salarian Way, where their tomb was venerated and their feast observed in the early Church.
Roman martyrs
Of the lives of Saints Chrysanthus and Daria little can be affirmed with certainty. Tradition has long held them to be husband and wife who suffered martyrdom together at Rome during one of the persecutions of the early centuries; later accounts surround them with much pious narrative, but these particulars belong rather to legend than to assured history, and the Church does not vouch for them. What is certain, and attested by the antiquity of their cult, is that they were truly martyrs, and that their memory was held in honour by the Roman Church.
Where the records are scant, the faithful may honour with confidence what is sure: that these two confessed Christ and sealed their faith with their blood, and that the Church has kept their memory across the centuries. They stand among the great company of the martyrs of Rome, witnesses to Christ in an age when fidelity to Him might cost one’s life. In remembering them, the Church gives thanks for the grace by which God strengthened His servants in the hour of trial, and professes her communion with all the saints.
The Collect
Patronage
They are venerated together as early martyrs of the Roman Church.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar this commemoration is no longer kept on the universal calendar.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saints Chrysanthus and Daria?
Their commemoration is kept on 25 October in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Fourth Class feast. In the modern calendar it is no longer observed on the universal calendar.
Who were Saints Chrysanthus and Daria?
They were martyrs of the early Roman Church, honoured by ancient tradition as husband and wife who suffered death for Christ together and were buried on the Salarian Way. Their veneration as martyrs is very ancient, though the detailed accounts of their lives belong largely to later legend.
Why does the Church honour martyrs of whom little is known?
The Church honours the martyrs not for the details of their lives, which are often lost, but for their witness: that they confessed Christ and gave their lives rather than deny Him. In remembering Saints Chrysanthus and Daria, the faithful give thanks for the grace of God in the age of persecution and profess their communion with all the saints.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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