St.Protomartyrs of Rome

June 30, non-binding commemoration
Position: martyrs
Death: 64
CURRICULUM VITAE

They were men, women, and youth, clergy and laity, many of whom had accepted the faith very early on. They fell in large numbers during the first of many persecutions of Christians. When a large part of Rome burned down, which, according to the historian Tacitus, was set on fire by Nero, the emperor cast suspicion on the Christians and declared them arsonists. The people considered the killing of Christians a reason for entertainment. In addition to Tacitus, Seutonius, for example, speaks of this among the pagans, and Clement of Rome among the Christian writers.
CV FOR MEDITATION

REPRESENTATIONS OF NAMELESS WITNESSES
They were believers united by love for Christ, people who had love for all others in their hearts but were regarded by the majority of the people of Rome as their greatest enemies. Hosts of nameless witnesses to the truth had to die.

In the year 64, a diabolical plan ripened in the proud heart of Emperor Nero. He wanted to see a great fire in Rome to represent the burning of Troy. He wanted to be the master of everything and be celebrated as a great builder. At that time, there were more and more people in the city with a “dangerous” faith, which, in its teachings, proclaimed the equality of all people, so, according to them, the emperor should be the brother of an enslaved person, and an enslaved person equal to his sovereign. Their “deviation” is completed by the fact that they see God in someone who was crucified as an enslaved person. The emperor praised himself for the idea he had. How “magnificent!” Since the people would hate the arsonists, whom he had decided to label Christians, he would be able to get rid of them in such a way that all his desires would be satisfied and he would be celebrated.

After the fire of Rome, Emperor Nero began a cruel persecution of the first Christians, and fantastic tortures were invented for them, as the Roman historian Tacitus wrote. The imperial gardens were specially illuminated by live torches that burned Christians in pitch-blackened rags on columns and crosses. Some Christians were sewn into animal skins and thrown to wild dogs to be slowly torn apart. Bloody theaters took place in the circus on the Vatican Hill, during which wild beasts were unleashed on children and women, cruel whippings were performed, and there was no shortage of beheadings. The largest number of Christians were tortured in various ways there.

They suffered and died with unwavering faith and hope for life in heaven and with a love for Jesus from which they drew strength. The apostle Paul wrote, as it were, in their name, recalling the prophetic words of Psalm 44:23: “For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are like sheep to be slaughtered. But in all these things—persecution, tribulation, and sword— we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death… nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:36-39).

The Lord Jesus foretold the persecution and suffering of those who would follow him, saying, “Brother will betray brother to death… All will hate you for my name’s sake, but he who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 10:21-22) The Lord Jesus Himself had already blessed these persecuted ones in advance with an encouraging addition: “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12).

Martyrdom is the highest degree of love. Many pagans, seeing the enthusiasm of Christians and their courage in the most painful tortures, cried out for baptism. And so the Church grew the more it was persecuted. The blood of the martyrs is the seed of new Christians. Since the names of all the first Roman martyrs are not known to many, the Church commemorates their heroic deaths with a common feast immediately after those of the two foremost apostles, who were also executed under the emperor Nero.

Between the current cemetery and St. Peter’s Basilica, a stone in the pavement marks the place where, in the middle of the circus, where most of the first martyrs died, an obelisk once stood, which was later transferred to St. Peter’s Square in 1586.