Feast: 11 August (traditional Roman calendar)
Saint Tiburtius
Tiburtius is commemorated as a noble Roman youth, son of a high-ranking pagan official named Chromatius. His conversion to the Faith came through the apostolic preaching of Saint Sebastian and the priest Polycarp during the persecution of Diocletian. Once baptized, he embraced a life of purity and charity, distributing much of his inheritance to the poor.
When Diocletian renewed his savage decrees against Christians, Tiburtius was accused of refusing to sacrifice to the false gods. Brought before the judge, he confessed Christ openly and was condemned to a cruel test: walking barefoot upon burning coals. By divine aid, he passed over them unharmed, proclaiming that Christ strengthened him as He had the three youths in the fiery furnace. Enraged, the judge ordered him to be beheaded. He suffered martyrdom at the third milestone on the Via Labicana, around the year 286, and was buried by the faithful in the catacombs.
Saint Susanna, Virgin and Martyr
Susanna, a Roman maiden of noble family, was the daughter of Saint Gabinius (a priest and brother of Pope Saint Caius). From her earliest years, she dedicated herself wholly to Christ, vowing perpetual virginity.
When the Emperor Diocletian, still friendly with her family, sought to unite her in marriage with his co-emperor Maximian, Susanna steadfastly refused, declaring that she had already chosen Christ as her Spouse. Diocletian’s kinsman, Maximian Galerius, took her refusal as an insult to imperial dignity. She was brought before the Prefect of Rome, where she courageously professed the Faith and rejected the idols.
Condemned to death, she was struck down in her own house—beheaded in secret, so as to avoid public unrest over the execution of a noblewoman. Her home was later transformed into the church of Santa Susanna in Rome, where her relics rest. Her martyrdom took place around the year 295.
Cult and Commemoration
The names of Tiburtius and Susanna are recorded in the Martyrologium Romanum on August 11. In the traditional liturgy, they share a feast day, though their martyrdoms occurred separately. The ancient Roman station on this day is held at Santa Susanna ad duas domos, honoring the virgin martyr in the very place of her sacrifice.
The example of both saints shines as a testimony to:
- Courage in the face of tyranny (Tiburtius defying torture, Susanna refusing imperial marriage)
- Purity and fidelity to vows
- Charity toward the poor and steadfastness in the Faith
Collect from the Traditional Missal:
Da nobis, quæsumus, Dómine, beáta Mártyrum tuórum Tibúrtii et Susánnæ suffrágia venerándo: ut, quos venerámur actus, imitémur et proficiámus in via salutis.
Grant us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, to venerate the intercession of Thy blessed martyrs Tiburtius and Susanna: that we may imitate what we revere, and so advance in the way of salvation