Women Martyrs

Women played a crucial role in the spread of Christianity throughout the Greco-Roman world and the Near  East. The Gospels and Paul's letters name women who served as church deacons, community benefactors, and missionaries. Biographies of the saints abound with stories of Christian women martyred by Roman authorities. Some of the Eucharistic prayers in the Roman Canon date back to Latin liturgical texts penned in North Africa during the third and fourth centuries. The prayers include petitions to the earliest martyrs. Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, and Anastasia are women martyrs listed alongside prominent male martyrs such as Stephen--the first Christian martyr--and Ignatius of Antioch.

Sources: The Maryknoll Sunday Missal