Sts. Beatrix, Simplicius and Faus-

Now there was a farm which had belonged to Sim plicius, and on the death of the brothers, it fell to the possession of their sister Beatrix.

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July 29 · —

Sts. Beatrix

Sts. Beatrix, Simplicius and Faus-

Now there was a farm which had belonged to Sim plicius, and on the death of the brothers, it fell to the possession of their sister Beatrix.

Traditional feast

July 29
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

July 29
Secondary source · Wikipedia

Represents

Feast

Their story

Adapted in modern English from Alban Butler's Lives of the Saints · Baring-Gould original below · little is known

Simplicius and Faustinus were brothers who were tortured and beheaded at Rome under Diocletian (Roman emperor 284–305, who launched the last and fiercest persecution of Christians in 303), and their bodies were thrown into the Tiber. Their sister Beatrice recovered and buried them. She then hid for seven months with a widow named Lucina.

A pagan kinsman who wanted her estate denounced her, and she was strangled in prison. Lucina buried her beside her brothers. Butler and Baring-Gould agree on 303.

Early life

The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.

Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 85 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

Now there was a farm which had belonged to Sim plicius, and on the death of the brothers, it fell to the possession of their sister Beatrix. This farm was coveted by a neighbour or a kinsman, who, to obtain it, threatened to accuse Beatrix before the magistrates of being a Christian. As she refused to adore the gods of the heathen, Lucretius, her kinsman, ordered his servants to confine her in a cellar, and there she was by his orders strangled by the slaves.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Stay faithful when it costs you. This account is about holding firm under pressure.

Keep their day. Remember them on July 29 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.

Read more

The full original · 85 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Martyrology of S. Jerome. Mentioned in the Sacramentary of Pope Gelasius. Ancient Roman Martyrology, Wandelbert, Hrabanus, Ado, Usuardus, Notker, &c. Modern Roman Martyrology. The Acts, though they have been tampered with, are trustworthy.] In the reign of Diocletian and Maximian, S. Beatrix, the sister of the blessed martyrs Simplicius and Faustinus, who had endured many torments, and had been flung over the bridge into the Tiber, rescued their bodies from the river, and consigned them to a grave in the cemetery of Sextus Philippus. She then sought a hojne in the house of S. Lucina (June 30th), and lived with her seven months.

Now there was a farm which had belonged to Sim plicius, and on the death of the brothers, it fell to the possession of their sister Beatrix. This farm was coveted by a neighbour or a kinsman, who, to obtain it, threatened to accuse Beatrix before the magistrates of being a Christian. As she refused to adore the gods of the heathen, Lucretius, her kinsman, ordered his servants to confine her in a cellar, and there she was by his orders strangled by the slaves.

Feast days

Feast: July 29

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from Sts. Beatrix's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on July 29
St. Martha

St. Martha

July 29 · Virgin
F

St. Felix II.

July 29 · Feast
St. Lupus of Troyes

St. Lupus of Troyes

July 29 · Bishop
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Story sources

Sources

Credits

Image: SimpliciusFaustinusmartyrdom.jpg · Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs · Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain.

Image: Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.