The Seven Holy Brothers, Martyrs, and Sts. Rufina & Secunda, Virgins, Martyrs–R (III)

The Roman widow Felicitas and her seven sons were martyred in about the year 162. Pope Gregory the Great said of her, “She was more than a martyr, for seeing her seven children martyred before her eyes, she was in some sort a martyr in each of them.” A century later, Rufina and Secunda, daughters of a wealthy Roman, refused to marry two suitors who had apostatized from the Christian religion. They were scourged and beheaded.