Saints John & Paul, Martyrs
Ss. Ioannis et Pauli Martyrum
Saints John and Paul were Roman martyrs of the fourth century, venerated from ancient times at their house on the Caelian Hill, whose names are spoken in the Canon of the Mass.
On this day the Church honours the Roman martyrs John and Paul, whose veneration in the city is very old and very dear. Their names stand among the holy martyrs named in the Canon of the Mass, and over their dwelling on the Caelian Hill there rose an ancient basilica, built upon the very house where, according to tradition, they lived and shed their blood for Christ.
The witness of their blood
The tradition long handed down in the Church remembers John and Paul as two brothers who served in the household of the imperial family at Rome, and who, in the years when the faith was again assailed, refused to forsake Christ or to do what was contrary to his law. For this constancy they were put to death secretly within their own house and buried there, in the time of the persecution that followed the reign of the Christian emperors, about the middle of the fourth century. The faithful kept their memory at the place of their burial, and their house became a shrine.
The detailed account of their passion belongs to the early narratives whose particulars cannot all be confirmed by history; but the antiquity of their veneration, the witness of the great basilica raised in their honour, and the inclusion of their names in the most solemn prayer of the Mass are sure signs of the honour in which the Roman Church has always held them.
Their veneration at Rome
The basilica of Saints John and Paul, which still stands upon the Caelian Hill, preserves beneath it the remains of the ancient Roman house associated with the martyrs, a place of prayer and pilgrimage through the centuries. Their feast, kept on the twenty-sixth of June, joins the faithful to two witnesses whom the Church of Rome has never forgotten.
The collect of their Mass asks that we may be helped by the manifold patronage of these holy martyrs, whose glorious confession of faith strengthens us. In honouring John and Paul, the Church remembers the long line of Roman witnesses whose blood watered the faith, and gives thanks for those who held fast to Christ even unto death.
The Collect
We beseech thee, O almighty God: that the twofold joy of this day’s festival may take hold of us, which arises from the glorification of thy blessed Martyrs John and Paul, whom one and the same faith and suffering truly made to be brethren.
Quæsumus, omnípotens Deus: ut nos gemináta lætítia hodiérnæ festivitátis excípiat, quæ de beátórum Ioannis et Pauli glorificatióne procédit; quos éadem fides et pássio vere fecit esse germános.
Patronage
They are venerated among the early martyrs of Rome, their names spoken in the Canon of the Mass, and are honoured at the ancient basilica bearing their names on the Caelian Hill.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar this feast is not kept on the universal calendar, though the martyrs continue to be venerated and their names remain in the Roman Canon.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saints John and Paul?
Their feast is kept on 26 June in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Third Class feast.
Who were Saints John and Paul?
They were Roman martyrs, remembered by tradition as two brothers who served in the imperial household and were put to death about the middle of the fourth century for their fidelity to Christ. They were venerated at their house on the Caelian Hill, where an ancient basilica bears their names.
How much is reliably known about them?
The antiquity of their veneration at Rome, the basilica raised over their dwelling, and the inclusion of their names in the Canon of the Mass are certain. The detailed legend of their passion cannot all be confirmed by history, and the Church honours them soberly for what is sure.
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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