April 15 + Saints Basilissa and Anastasia

Basilissa and Anastasia were early Christian martyrs of the noble class in Rome, put to death during the reign of Nero. They were among the first converts to Christianity in the 1st century.

Basilissa and Anastasia were Roman matrons of high rank and great wealth. They were disciples of and were baptized by the Apostles Peter and Paul. They were the pallbearers of Peter and Paul and buried the bodies of these Apostles after they were martyred. The location of the two tombs eventually became St. Peter's Basilica and the Basilica of St. Paul. The burials exposed Basilissa and Anastasia to persecution and they were arrested for collecting the relics of and burying the bodies of other martyred Christians. They refused to recant their Christian faith and were beheaded with swords by order of Nero in 68 AD, after being tortured, including having their tongues torn out, their skins scraped with hooks, being burned with fire, and their breasts and feet cut off. Their relics are at Santa Maria della Pace Church in Rome. A statue of Basilissa is among the statues that line the colonnade overlooking St. Peter's Square in Rome.