Saints Chrysanthus and Daria (martyrs around 283 in Rome) were a Christian couple of the 3rd century, kept on 25 October in the West and 19 March in the East. Chrysanthus, son of an Egyptian patrician converted by reading the Acts of the Apostles, marries Daria, a young Roman raised in the pagan cult. Both convert, choose to live in continence and win many souls to the faith. Arrested, tortured, then buried alive near the Via Salaria, they are venerated as martyrs.[1][2][3][4]
The Acts that tell their martyrdom date from the 5th century and are judged, historically, of little value by scholars. But their names appear in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum, the oldest witness of the memory of the saints, and the Church has honoured their cult without interruption. A 2011 study on remains attributed to the martyrs confirms the presence of a young man and a young woman of Roman date.[5][6][7]
“Without historical value.” — Johann Peter Kirsch, Catholic Encyclopedia, 1908, on the 5th-century Greek and Latin Acts[8]
An Alexandrian patrician converted by the Acts
Chrysanthus is the only son of an Egyptian patrician named Polemius (or Poleon), from Alexandria. Under the reign of Emperor Numerian, the family settles in Rome, where the young man receives a classical Roman education.[9][10]
Disillusioned by the disorders of the city, Chrysanthus turns to Christian books. Tradition reports that reading the Acts of the Apostles convinces him of the truth of the Gospel. His father, to turn him from this conversion, has him marry Daria, a young Roman raised in the cult of Minerva (elsewhere presented as a Vestal Virgin). The plan fails: Chrysanthus converts his wife.[11][12]
Both are baptized and trained by the priest Carpophorus. They then agree to live together in continence, as brother and sister, and devote themselves to converting Romans. Several of those around them follow them in the new faith.[13][14]
A marriage turned into witness
Their way of living unsettles and attracts. Young men and women of Rome join them. The Roman authorities see a threat to public order. The tribune Claudius has Chrysanthus arrested. Struck by the young man's constancy, he converts with his wife Hilaria, his sons Maurus and Jason, and seventy soldiers.[15]
Repression is not long in coming. Claudius is drowned, his sons beheaded, his wife hanged. Chrysanthus is subjected to new tortures. Daria, for her part, is forced to live in a place of debauchery: the law forbids putting a virgin to death, and one hopes to break her by shame. Tradition says a lioness watches over her and protects her from all harm.[16][17]
The martyrdom near the Via Salaria
Brought before Emperor Numerian, the two spouses refuse to sacrifice. Their judges hesitate over the sentence: stoning, beheading, or burial alive. The Acts and the Bollandists retain the last solution, which matches the punishment inflicted on Vestals convicted of unchastity. Chrysanthus and Daria are therefore buried alive in a sand pit near the Via Salaria Nova, at the catacombs of Rome, around 283.[18][19][20]
The Acts add that on the anniversary of their death, persecutors sealed the crypt with stones and buried alive Christians who had come to pray, including the priest Diodorus and the deacon Marianus. These details belong to the legendary layer of the account.[21]
Feast day, relics and studies
The names of Chrysanthus and Daria appear in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum. A church is built over their reputed tomb in Rome. Their cult spreads in the West, where they are kept on 25 October, and in the East, where their memory is fixed at 19 March.[22][23][24]
Several places claim their relics. At Bad Münstereifel, in Germany, a church is dedicated to them; the relics would have arrived there in the 9th century via the abbey of Prüm. At Beaulieu-lès-Loches, in France, Count Fulk III of Anjou would have received the bodies from Pope Sergius IV in 1011, on returning from a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and given them to his monastery. The cathedral of Reggio Emilia, in Italy, also keeps remains attributed to them.[25]
In 2011, a palaeopathology team led by Ezio Fulcheri, of the University of Genoa, examines remains attributed to the martyrs. The analysis reveals a man aged 17 to 18 and a woman aged 20 to 25, radiocarbon dated between 80 and 340 AD. The bones show a high lead content, a sign of an affluent milieu; no mark of violence or illness appears, and death remains compatible with suffocation, which agrees with burial alive.[26]
These results do not bring decisive proof of identity, but they make the tradition plausible: a young Roman couple of the 3rd century could well have been put to death and buried together. The Church, for her part, has honoured them for centuries as martyrs of Christ.
For further reading
- Saint Sebastian (died around 300): another great martyr of the Roman persecution, himself kept near the end of October.
- Saint Agnes (martyr): virgin and martyr of Rome, whose tradition is likewise bound to the catacombs.
- The martyrs of Lyon in 177: the account of another group of martyrs, this time in Gaul.
- Saint Stephen, the first martyr: the model of the witness who dies for having confessed Christ.
Notes and References
Wikipedia (FR), "Chrysanthus et Daria" / "Chrysanthe et Darie": fr.wikipedia.org. Encyclopedic notice: couple of martyrs of the 3rd century, son of the patrician Polemius; Daria priestess of Minerva or Vestal; marriage and continence; baptism by Carpophorus; martyrdom under Numerian; feast on 25 October in the West and 19 March in the East.
1 11 16Wikipedia (EN), "Chrysanthus and Daria": en.wikipedia.org. Reference notice: Egyptian patrician Polemius, move from Alexandria to Rome under Numerian; reading of the Acts of the Apostles; arranged marriage then conversion of Daria; priest Carpophorus; tribune Claudius, Hilaria, Maurus, Jason and seventy soldiers converted then executed; lioness protecting Daria; burial alive in a sand pit near the Via Salaria Nova around 283; Martyrologium Hieronymianum; 5th-century Acts judged historically worthless by Kirsch; relics at Bad Münstereifel, Beaulieu-lès-Loches (Fulk III, 1011, Pope Sergius IV) and Reggio Emilia; 2011 study (Ezio Fulcheri).
2 6 9 12 13 15 17 18 21 22 25Catholic Encyclopedia, "Sts. Chrysanthus and Daria" (Johann Peter Kirsch, 1908): the Greek and Latin Acts of the 5th century are judged "without historical value"; the names of the martyrs nevertheless appear in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum; a church was built over their reputed tomb in Rome.
3 5 8 10 14 23Orthodox Church in America, notice of Saints Chrysanthus and Daria: presentation of Daria as a priestess of Minerva; Eastern feast on 19 March.
4Ezio Fulcheri (University of Genoa) et al., palaeopathological study of 2011, reported notably by National Geographic: remains of a man aged 17 to 18 and a woman aged 20 to 25; radiocarbon dating between 80 and 340 AD; high lead content (affluent milieu); no mark of violence or illness; death compatible with suffocation.
7 26Paul Guérin, "Saints Chrysanthus and Daria", Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des saints, vol. 12 (1882): account of the martyrdom, including death by burial alive, the punishment reserved for Vestals convicted of unchastity.
19Bollandists, Acta Sanctorum, October, vol. 10 (25 October): hagiographic dossier of Saints Chrysanthus and Daria, with the Greek and Latin Acts and the development of their cult.
20Martyrologium Hieronymianum (5th century): oldest written witness of the memory of the saints of the West; the names of Chrysanthus and Daria appear there.
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