Saints Rufina and Secunda VVMM

The seven were alleged to have been the sons of Saint Felicitas, who were martyred with her at Rome under Antoninus Pius for refusing to sacrifice to the civic gods. They were then taken before four separate judges and sentenced to die in differing ways. The names of the seven are given as Felix, Philip, Martial, Vitalis, Alexander, Silvanus, and Januarius.

They were authentic martyrs, all on July 10, buried at four different cemeteries in Rome; but there is nothing to connect them with one another or with Saint Felicitas. The story appears to be a fictional adaptation of that of the mother of the Maccabees (Attwater, Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

Antony and his successor, Saint Theodosius, should be credited for the introduction of monasticism into Russia, where it was to play an important role in the religious life of the country until the revolution of 1917. For nearly a thousand years the monastery that they founded in Saint Petersburg (Kiev) was to be the home of monks who lived lives of prayer to God and charity to their fellow men. It was not, to be sure, the first monastery in Russia, but the others, which had been founded by Greek bishops or local princes and were modelled on the Byzantine system, had failed to take root. An indigenous form was needed, and it was this that Saint Antony provided with his community at the Caves of Kiev.

Saint Antony began his religious life as an anchorite, but about 1028 went on a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, where he lived as a hermit attached to the monastery of Esphigmenou. He remained there for several years and was reluctant to leave, but the abbot sent him back to Russia saying: The Lord has given you strength in the way of holiness and you must now lead others."

On his return Antony lived for a while in a monastery near Saint Petersburg, but finding the life there too slack he retired to a cave in a cliff above the River Dnieper. He lived on bread, water, and a few vegetables that he grew in a small plot, and any gifts that were brought to him he at once passed on to the poor.

His reputation for holiness grew quickly and among the visitors who came to see him there were many who wished to share his life. Antony, who was no respecter of persons, welcomed them all, young and old, rich and poor, noble and serf. Other caves were dug out, a large one was used as a chapel for the growing community, and later, when prince Syaslav gave them land on the hill above their caves, they built a monastery and church--the first purely Russian monastery, of the Caves of Kiev (Kievo-Pecherskaya Lavra).

"Many monasteries were built with the wealth of princes and nobles," says the chronicle, "but this was the first to be built with tears and fasting and prayer." After a while Antony resigned the direction of the community and retired to Chernigov, where he founded another monastery, but towards the end of his life he returned to Saint Petersburg, where he died at the age of 90.

The work begun by Saint Antony was completed and more firmly established by Saint Theodosius, and from Saint Petersburg its influence was destined to spread throughout the whole of Russia (Attwater, Encyclopedia).

Soon, however, the Emperor Valerian began to persecute the church and Armentarius and Verinus renounced Christianity. Neither girl would do this. Both decided to escape to Etruria, but on their way they were captured and brought before a prefect named Junius Donatus.

Junius Donatus decided on a cruel torment: he would scourge Rufina while her sister watched. As the scourging began, Secunda shouted, "Why are you honoring my sister in this way and dishonoring me! Please scourge us both at the same time. We both declare that Jesus Christ is God." Realizing that neither girl would recant, Junius Donatus had them beheaded.

A pagan lady named Plautilla buried their bodies outside Rome on the Via Aurelia in a spot known as the Black Forest. It was later renamed the White Forest because of their sacred bones, and the church of Sante Rufina e Secunda was built in their honor in Rome. While they were indeed two Roman maidens martyred under Valerian and buried at Santa Rufina on the Aurelian Way, the above acta are apocryphal (Bentley, Benedictines, Encyclopedia).

In art, Saints Rufina and Secunda are represented as two maidens floating in the Tiber River with weights attached to their necks (Roeder).