A husband and father of four whose whole family, wife Tatta and sons Sabinian, Maximos, Rufus, and Eugene, is remembered among the fourth-century martyrs of Damascus.

Paul of Damascus was a layman of Damascus, in present-day Syria, martyred sometime during the fourth century together with his wife, Saint Tatta, and their four sons, Sabinian, Maximos, Rufus, and Eugene. The record preserves this family relationship clearly but gives no further detail of the persecution or the specific date of their deaths. No formal canonization process is recorded; the family’s cult is ancient and local.

Quick Facts

• Died: IV century, Damascus, Syria
• Family: husband of Saint Tatta; father of Saints Sabinian, Maximos, Rufus, and Eugene
• Venerated as: Layman and martyr

Who Was Saint Paul of Damascus?

Paul of Damascus, according to the ancient register, was a married layman and the father of four sons, all of whom, along with his wife Tatta, are remembered together as martyrs in fourth-century Damascus. This is an unusually complete family record for so ancient a source, naming not just a companion but an entire household, though it gives no further narrative of how or precisely when the family died.

Historical Setting

Fourth-century Damascus, an ancient city with a Christian community reaching back to the conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle on its very road, experienced the last great imperial persecution under Diocletian and Galerius in its opening years before Constantine’s Edict of Milan brought toleration in 313. A family martyrdom on the scale recorded for Paul, Tatta, and their four sons would fit within this final and often especially harsh wave of persecution, though the precise date within the century is not given.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Paul of Damascus

Whole families dying together for the faith is a recurring and deeply moving pattern in the ancient martyrologies, and Paul of Damascus’s household, a father, mother, and four sons named individually, stands as one of the fuller examples of it. The Church remembers this family not for any one heroic deed but for the shared conviction that apparently held six people, across two generations, firm at the same moment.

Canonization and Feast Day

No record survives of any formal canonization process for Paul of Damascus or his family, which is the expected case for a fourth-century martyrdom recorded only in the ancient local tradition of the Syrian church. Their veneration rests on this immemorial cult rather than on any dated papal ceremony.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Paul of Damascus did not face his trial as an isolated individual but as the head of a household whose wife and sons apparently shared his convictions fully enough to die alongside him. His family’s memory speaks to the way faith is often transmitted and tested within the home itself, a reminder of the weight parents carry in forming their children’s own courage.

A Prayer to Saint Paul of Damascus

Saint Paul of Damascus, husband and father who led your household to Christ even to the point of death, watch over Christian families today who strive to hand on the faith together. Help parents and children alike find the same shared conviction that carried your family through its final trial. Amen.

Sources

• Roman Martyrology, entry for the ancient church of Damascus
• New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, entry on Damascus