Skip to main content
There's a Saint for That! Search

St. Rufus and Zosimus

Feast 12-18

Patron of

About

Saints Rufus and Zosimus were second-century Christian martyrs venerated by both the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. They lived in Antioch and were companions of the great bishop Ignatius, sharing his journey to Rome under sentence of death during the persecution under Emperor Trajan. Two days before Ignatius himself was given to the beasts, Rufus and Zosimus were cast into the arena and killed by wild animals, sealing their testimony in blood. Their steadfast witness beside their beloved master has been remembered since the earliest centuries, and their feast is kept on December 18, a double harvest of martyrdom gathered in from the sands of Rome.

martyrs, martyr, martyrdom, martyred, witnesses, dying for the faith, christian martyrs, martyrs of the church, religious martyrs, persecuted to death, faithful martyrs, confessors, confession, confessor, sacramental confession, confessing, reconciliation, penance, confessional, confessing sins, sacrament of confession, absolution, the oppressed, oppressed, oppression, the downtrodden, the marginalized, the exploited, the afflicted, oppressed people, victims of injustice, the subjugated, the persecuted

Suggested prayer

O God, who crowned your servants Rufus and Zosimus with martyrdom beside your bishop Ignatius, grant through their intercession that we may face every trial with courage and confess your name without fear. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Sources

Other saints to pray to

For martyrs

For confessors