So many of the Saints we admire and revere were priests or vowed religious. Some people may believe (wrongfully) that one has to have a special Vocation or calling from God to become a Saint. While many of us do know priests, nuns, monks, etc. who are sincerely striving for sanctity, the fact is that all of us are called to holiness, no matter what our state in life. So today I will share the story of a married couple who answered that call.
Timothy and Maura (or Mavra) lived in the third century in Egypt. Timothy was a reader, or lector, in the church. Maura was a devout Christian woman from a pious family. The couple studied scripture together - Timothy was known for his knowledge of scripture and in the evenings after work, villagers would gather to hear him read from the scriptures.
When the couple had been married only 20 days, Timothy was summoned to the pagan governor to be put on trial for his teaching of the Christian faith. He was ordered to surrender all his Christian books for them to be destroyed, but he refused. He was punished harshly with various forms of torture. His wife, Maura, was brought in to use her feminine wiles to persuade him to denounce Christ. Maura, however, gave her husband strength and encouragement to endure his suffering. Because of this, she was also subjected to tortures, having all the hair pulled from her head and her fingers cut off. During their tortures, both husband and wife saw visions of angels which comforted them. After enduring nine days of such torture, the couple was martyred by crucifixion. Their feast day is celebrated on May 3.
Miraculously, the governor who had them tortured and killed, Arianos, was later converted himself and was martyred for Christ. His feast day is December 14.
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