Sts. Martyrs Under Alexander

Nearly all the Latin Martyrologies commemorate these martyrs, without giving their names.

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March 2 · —

Sts. Martyrs Under…

Sts. Martyrs Under Alexander

Nearly all the Latin Martyrologies commemorate these martyrs, without giving their names.

Traditional feast

March 2
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1897)

Current feast

November 20
Secondary source · Wikipedia

Represents

Feast

Early life

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

Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 148 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

Nearly all the Latin Martyrologies commemorate these martyrs, without giving their names. Baronius added to the Roman Martyrology, that they suffered under Ulpian the præfect; this was a conjecture of his, for Ulpian was bitterly hostile to the Christians, and it was under him that S. Martina (Jan. 1st) suffered.

What they represent

How they teach us to live

Drawn from themes in the original account

Feed your mind with Scripture and good books. Learning and the Scriptures matter in this life.

Keep their day. Remember them on March 2 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.

Read more

The full original · 148 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Nearly all the Latin Martyrologies commemorate these martyrs, without giving their names. Baronius [Cardinal Baronius (d. 1607), church historian who edited the Roman Martyrology] added to the Roman Martyrology, that they suffered under Ulpian the præfect; this was a conjecture of his, for Ulpian was bitterly hostile to the Christians, and it was under him that S. Martina (Jan. 1st) suffered. Alexander himself, only seventeen when he came to the throne, was of mild disposition, and the reins of government were in the hands of his mother Mamæa, who, with the approbation of the senate, chose sixteen of the wisest and most virtuous senators as a council of state, and at the head of this placed the learned Ulpian, a prudent governor, and severe disciplinarian, who could not brook that certain citizens should worship God in any way than that of the established religion, and looked on Christianity as a dangerous political element in the state, which demanded extirpation.

Feast days

Feast: November 20
Traditional: March 2

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

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

Also on March 2
St. Simplicius, Pope

St. Simplicius

March 2 · Feast
St. Joavan

St. Joavan

March 2 · Priest, Confessor
M

Sts. Martyrs Under the…

March 2 · Feast
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Sources

Credits

Image: Edmundbeingmartyred05.jpg · Unknown · Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.

Image: Unknown, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897), digitized text from Project Gutenberg. 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.