2026 Feast of St. Arethas and Companions, Martyrs

On October 24, the Church in the Arabian Peninsula will once again celebrate, with joy and in unity, the Feast of St. Arethas and Companions, Martyrs. Their feast is liturgically celebrated in the two Vicariates of the Arabian Peninsula as an obligatory memorial, with the approval (recognitio) of the Holy See. Now enshrined in the Particular Calendars of both Vicariates, their annual celebration has become a permanent part of the liturgical life of the Church in the region—a fitting tribute to the importance of the Martyrs in the history and spiritual heritage of the local Church.

Fresco of St. Arethas, Koutloumousiou Monastery - Mount Athos, Greece.

As we celebrate their feast two years after the Great Jubilee commemorating the 1,500th anniversary of their martyrdom in 2023-2024, we shall depart from recounting the historical events surrounding their martyrdom. Instead, this article will reflect on the significant developments that have taken place since the Jubilee, as well as on some of the important lessons that the Martyrs continue to teach the Church today.

From having been almost forgotten in the annals of history, the story of St. Arethas and his Companions has, in recent years, received renewed attention not only throughout the Arabian Peninsula but also across the Christian world. Remarkably, despite the relative scarcity of historical sources, the story of their witness has endured and continues to inspire Christians living in the region and far beyond its borders.

The importance of the Martyrs became even more manifest when the Holy See, through a recognitio granted by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, approved their commemoration as an obligatory memorial in the two Vicariates of the Arabian Peninsula. Apart from the common celebration of the Solemnity of Our Lady of Arabia, Principal Patroness of the Arabian Peninsula, the memorial of St. Arethas and Companions has become a unique liturgical celebration shared by the two Vicariates.

This development has also opened the way for other saints connected with the history and Christian heritage of the Arabian Peninsula to be celebrated in common. Among them is St. Isaac of Nineveh, who was born in Qatar and whose feast is now observed liturgically as an optional memorial on January 29.

The commemoration of St. Arethas and Companions has also been enriched by the approval of the Holy See of proper liturgical texts unique to them. Their feast day now has its own texts for the Office of Readings (Liturgy of the Hours), together with proper texts for the celebration of Holy Mass, including the Collect:

“Almighty and merciful God,

who bestowed upon Saint Arethas and his Companions

the crown and palm of martyrdom,

and willed that your Church, pruned like a vine,

should bear abundant fruit,

grant, we pray, through their intercession,

that all peoples may glory in the Cross of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God, for ever and ever.”

(Download the full liturgical text.)

With these two critical recognitio—their permanent place in the Particular Calendars of the two Vicariates and the approval of their own proper liturgical texts—the importance of the Martyrs in the life of the Church in the Arabian Peninsula has been given a lasting ecclesial expression. Catholics who come to the region today therefore have the opportunity not only to learn about these ancient witnesses of the faith but also to embrace a living devotion to them.

As the Martyrs become increasingly woven into the life of the local Church in the Gulf, their story is likewise making its way beyond the borders of the region.

This year, the Latin Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt, an ancient and venerable Christian Church, led by Bishop Claudio Laurati, MCCJ, published a book on the saints, with the cooperation of the Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia. The Church of Alexandria occupies a particularly significant place in the history of the Martyrs. It was the Patriarch of Alexandria who appealed to St. King Caleb of Aksum to undertake the reconquest of Najran and to restore its Christian community following the persecution. 

New book published by the Latin Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt, 2026.

Today, the Christians of Alexandria—both Catholic and Orthodox—continue to hold the Martyrs in deep devotion. Thus, the memory of the Martyrs, once closely associated with a particular Christian community in southern Arabia and whose devotion quickly spread throughout the ancient Christian world, is once again being received and celebrated by Christians beyond the geographical boundaries of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Arab Martyrs are also continuing to contribute to the cause of Christian unity today.

In Oman, an Orthodox church has been dedicated to St. Arethas. This development is a particularly significant expression of the shared Christian heritage that links the various Christian traditions now present in the Gulf.

This summer, at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, His All-Holiness Bartholomew I, Bishop Aldo Berardi and a delegation of Orthodox and Catholic clergy from Kuwait undertook a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, one of the great spiritual centers of the Orthodox Church.

Fresco of St. Arethas, Simonas Petra Monastery - Mount Athos, Greece.

Fresco of St. Arethas, Konaki of Esphigmenou Monastery - Mount Athos, Greece.

The pilgrimage was an occasion not only for prayer and fraternity but also for the rediscovery of a shared Christian heritage. The delegation was graciously welcomed and given the rare opportunity to visit several monasteries where St. Arethas has been venerated for centuries, as witnessed by ancient frescoes depicting the Martyr. The Orthodox monks entrusted with the custody of the skull-relic of St. Arethas also graciously honored the delegation by unveiling the holy relic for their personal veneration.

Skull-relic of St. Arethas, Holy Great Monastery of Vatopedi - Mount Athos, Greece.

Such encounters reveal a profound dimension of the legacy of the Arab Martyrs. They are not saints belonging exclusively to one community or one ecclesial tradition. They are witnesses whose memory is shared by different Christian traditions now united by a common reverence for the saints’ fidelity to Christ and their willingness to give their lives for the faith.

As the Catholic Church continues its engagement with other Christian Churches, particularly with the Orthodox Church, the story of the Arab Martyrs demonstrates that a shared history can become a pathway toward greater Christian understanding, friendship and, ultimately, unity.

St. Arethas and his Companions therefore offer more than a memory of the distant past. Their witness continues to speak to Christians today. They remind us that the Church of the Arabian Peninsula is not a recent phenomenon, but a Church whose roots reach deep into the earliest centuries of Christianity. They remind us, too, that the blood of the martyrs became the seed of the Church, and that the faith which they defended at the cost of their lives continues to bear fruit today across the same lands for which they once gave their lives.

Perhaps most beautifully of all, the Martyrs remind Christians of different traditions that what we share is older and deeper than what divides us today. Their veneration across Catholic and Orthodox communities is itself a testimony that the saints can become bridges between Churches.

Two years after the Great Jubilee, the Church in the Arabian Peninsula therefore celebrates St. Arethas and his Companions not simply by looking back to their martyrdom, but by recognizing the living legacy of their witness. Their memory has been restored, their feast has been permanently inscribed in the liturgical life of the region, their relics continue to inspire devotion, and their story is opening new paths of communion among Christians.

At a time when violence and instability continue to afflict parts of southern Arabia, we entrust that troubled region to the intercession of the Martyrs of Najran. May they intercede before the throne of God for peace, reconciliation and the protection of all who live in those lands. May Najran and its surrounding region, once marked by the bold witness of men and women who gave their lives rather than abandon their faith, become once again an oasis of peace, fraternity and harmony.

As the Church in the Gulf looks with great hope toward the future, may today’s Christians discover in St. Arethas and his Companions not merely figures from a distant past, but companions in faith and intercessors before God. May their example illumine our own pilgrimage, strengthen our courage in witnessing to Christ, and deepen our communion with one another. And may the faith that sustained the Martyrs continue to take root in our hearts, Christians who now live, worship and bear witness in the lands where they once shed their blood.

The Martyrs of Najran, once nearly forgotten, continue to speak.

And the Church continues to listen.