Royal blood didn't save her

	Sainted martyrs Flavia Domitilla, Nereus and Achilleus When: First century Where: Rome What: Converts and martyrs Feast: May 12

Several saints celebrate feasts on May 12, but three of them -- Ss. Flavia Domitilla, Nereus and Achilleus -- are closely linked and may have lived their final years in exile because of their Christian beliefs.

St. Flavia Domitilla (also known as Domitilla) was the niece of St. Flavius Clemens and the Emperor Vespasian (69-79) and a cousin of Titus and Domitian, both successors of Vespasian. (St. Flavius served as a consul to his nephews until Domitian (81-96) had him beheaded for being a Christian.)

After Flavia converted to Christianity, she was banished to the island of Pandatania in the Tyrrhenian Sea (west of Italy between Sicily and Sardinia). (Another niece, also named Domitilla, was banished to Ponza, where she may be been martyred, after her conversion to Christianity.)

St. Flavia lived several years in a cell on the island before she was sent to Terracina, where the Emperor Trajan (98-117) had her burned to death because she refused to sacrifice to Roman gods.

During her imprisonment on Pandatania, one tradition says that she, Nereus and Achilleus -- both slaves in her household -- were kept in adjacent cells. These cells were still standing 300 years later and St. Jerome says St. Paula (347-404) visited them when going from Rome to Jerusalem.

Another tradition says Nereus and Achilleus were praetorian guards, who killed Christians before their conversions. After that, they refused to bear arms because of their religious beliefs.

The two then, in the words of Pope Damasus, "threw away their shields, their armor and their blood-stained javelins" and left the army. But they were captured and exiled to the island of Terracina, where Trajan had them beheaded for their religious beliefs.

Their bodies were buried in the family vault in a cemetery later named for Domitilla. The relics of Ss. Flavia Domitilla, Nereus and Achilleus are all kept together, which strengthens the linkage among these saints.

Whether Nereus and Achilleus were household slaves or soldiers who converted to Christianity is not important. What matters is that all three -- like countless others then and since -- converted to Christianity even though it made martyrdom likely. The blood of these martyrs helped the church to grow and thrive.