June 30
First Holy Martyrs (+64)
Protomartyrs
In the summer of the year 64, a huge fire broke out in the capital of the Roman Empire, “the most serious and most atrocious of those that have ever happened in Rome,” in the words of Tacitus.
Biography
Today we commemorate the Christians of Rome, whom Emperor Nero ordered killed in an atrocious manner, accused of having set fire to the city in July 64. The Roman historian Tacitus says that "it was an immense multitude." Tradition claims that Peter was one of these countless victims. The emperor Nero, to silence the popular rumor that he was responsible for the misfortune, “found himself guilty of it and began to punish with exquisite types of torture some men hated by the masses for their excesses, commonly called Christians.” For the first time, Christians, whose only fault was loving Christ and their brothers for the love of Christ, are persecuted and annihilated.
Practical advice
As you begin your work, bear witness to your faith through a coherent decision like someone who works and prays under the loving gaze of God.