Saints Chrysanthus and Daria

Chrysanthus and Daria are two third-century martyrs, buried in the catacomb of Thraso, on the Via Salaria in Rome. The passio that tells their story is late and legendary, and it’s one of those stories people in the Middle Ages read like novels. Chrysanthus was the son of a nobleman from Alexandria, Polemius, and in Rome he was converted by the priest Carpophorus. To bring him back to paganism, his father sent him a beautiful vestal virgin named Daria; the result was the opposite of what he had hoped — Daria converted, and the two decided to live together as brother and sister. They in turn converted quite a few Romans, and in the end they were arrested. The way they died, according to the story, has a chilling logic of its own: they were buried alive in a sand pit on the Salaria, because the blood of a vestal could not be shed without drawing the wrath of the gods. The cult, however, is ancient and solid: their names are already in the Hieronymian Martyrology, and Pope Damasus had their tomb adorned and dedicated a poem to it. Their relics were taken to Germany in the ninth century, and today they are kept in the cathedral of Reggio Emilia, whose patrons they are, and in Münstereifel. If your name is Daria, today is your name day.