Woman with seven sons
Jewish martyr described in 2 Maccabees 7
Feast: 1 August (1962 Missal) · not on the current Roman calendar
Who they were
The mother and her seven sons whose deaths are told at length in the Second Book of Maccabees (chapter 7). They died in the persecution of the Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes, when the Jews were ordered to sacrifice to the king's gods and many laid down their lives rather than break the law of their fathers.
With the old man Eleazar they are the martyrs of that persecution.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: they are among the few figures of the Old Testament honoured as saints in the Latin calendar.
Why that counted as sanctity
Scripture holds them up for choosing death rather than betray God's law.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - The Machabees
- Wikidata Q2359988 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Woman with seven sons (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.