Abdon and Sennen, Saints, Martyrs

ABDON and SENNEN, saints, martyrs. - According to the Passio, of no historical value, they were kings of Persia, captured by Decius and killed in an amphitheatre in Rome. In reality, they were Roman martyrs of the 3rd century, buried in the cemetery of Ponziano on the via Portuense, where a painting of the 6th or 7th century depicts them, dressed in Oriental fashion, in the act of receiving the crown from the Saviour. Their names occur in the Depositio Martyrum, the Martirolgio geronimiano, and the ancient Roman Sacramentari. Pope Adriano I (772-95) restored the cemetery basilica dedicated to them, and Pope Niccolò I (858-62) their tomb, already adorned, as it seems, by Pope Damaso. The bodies of the two martyrs were subsequently transferred to the basilica of S. Marco and, later, part of them to A.les-sur-Tech (France). Near the Colosseum there was a church dedicated to them. Feast: 30 July.