A laywoman martyred near Rome around 270 with her husband Saint Mario and their sons Audiface and Abaco, according to ancient tradition.

Saint Marta was a laywoman, according to long-standing Roman tradition the wife of Saint Mario, martyred with her husband and their sons Audiface and Abaco at Nymphae Catabassi near Rome around the year 270. The family is remembered together in the Roman Martyrology as one of the rare ancient accounts of an entire family unit martyred as one.

Quick Facts

• Died: c. 270, Nymphae Catabassi, Italy
• Feast Day: January 19 (with Saint Mario and their sons)
• Venerated as: Laywoman and martyr; wife of Saint Mario, mother of Saints Audiface and Abaco

Who Was Saint Marta?

Marta is remembered, according to ancient Roman tradition, as the wife of Mario and mother of Audiface and Abaco, a family said to have traveled from Persia to Rome to visit the tombs of the apostles and to aid imprisoned Christians, an act of devotion for which the whole family was arrested and martyred together.

Historical Setting

Persecution in and around third-century Rome fell not only on those who publicly professed Christianity but on those who materially supported the Church’s imprisoned members, a category of offense that could implicate entire households and families who shared the same faith and the same acts of charity.

Why the Church Remembers Saint Marta

Marta is remembered as a mother who, with her husband, chose to stand by the imprisoned Church rather than protect her family through silence, a decision that cost her and her sons their lives together, a witness to shared conviction within a single household.

Canonization and Feast Day

No formal modern process of beatification or canonization is recorded for Saint Marta. Her veneration is ancient, shared with her husband and sons, and received through the Church’s liturgical memory rather than a documented process.

What Catholics Can Learn Today

Marta’s willingness to risk her children’s safety for the sake of charity toward persecuted Christians challenges any comfortable separation between private family loyalty and public Christian witness; for her, protecting her family meant living the faith with them, not shielding them from its cost.

A Prayer to Saint Marta

Saint Marta, faithful wife and mother, you and your family gave everything together for love of Christ and his persecuted Church. Help mothers today to raise children unafraid to live the faith boldly, whatever the cost to comfort or safety. Amen.

Sources

• Roman Martyrology
• Butler’s Lives of the Saints
• New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia