Massa Candida, Martyrs of

MASSA CANDIDA, Martyrs of. - This is the designation given to a large group of martyrs who perished at Utica in the persecution of Valerian (258-59). No written account of their martyrdom exists, except for a few allusions in the sermons of St. Augustine delivered in their honor, and some verses of Prudentius that recount their martyrdom. The number of the martyrs is also uncertain: St. Augustine speaks of more than 153, Prudentius of 300. Their official commemoration took place on August 18, as attested by the Carthaginian Calendar and the Hieronymian Martyrology.

On the meaning of M. C. various hypotheses have been formulated. Some, following the tradition recorded by Prudentius, have wished to see in it an allusion to the kind of martyrdom; that is, the martyrs, placed before the alternative of choosing between sacrifice to idols and death, preferred to throw themselves en masse into a pit filled with quicklime prepared for that purpose, or were thrown into it by the executioners. Others, more plausibly, and basing themselves on the information reported by St. Augustine, think that the expression M. C. refers to the place of martyrdom. The event would therefore have occurred as follows: near Utica, the entire population of a village called precisely M. C., whose bishop was a certain Quadratus, also killed for the faith, were martyred en masse, perhaps because they were surprised while celebrating the liturgical functions against the prohibition of Valerian. Others again think that it is a collective commemoration of all the martyrs of the village who perished at different times.

Agostino Amore