SAINT AUDIFAX, MARTYR - 19 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 19th of January

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SAINT AUDIFAX, MARTYR - 19 JANUARY

Saint Audifax (commemorated on January 19), a martyr, was son of Saint Marius and Saint Martha and brother of Saint Abachum, with whom he is also commemorated in the breviary. 

Because they visited and cared for fellow Christians in prison, Marius, Abachum and Audifax were captured in Ostia and beheaded after painful and repeated torture, and after their hands had been chopped off. According to the sources, Martha (who is commemorated on January 11 and 16 in some calendars) was thrown into a well. 

Although their bodies were burned, the Christians appear to have managed to save several of their relics. Such are shown and venerated in various places: in Rome, where they were found in 1590, and in Seligenstadt, Soissons (where the Calvinists desecrated them), Gemblour (Gemblacum), Cortryk (Cortraeum), and Cremona. The Martha is at Razzi on the 11th. 

In Prüm, in the diocese of Trier, the relics of Saints Marius, Audifax and Abachum are venerated under the title "The Three Doctors", either because of the many aids that the sick received when their intercession was invoked (as the Bollandists* state) or because of the care they provided to prisoners and wounded Christians.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Audifax may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org