Martyr Boniface at Tarsus in Cilicia and the Righteous Aglae (Aglaida) of Rome

Boniface was the steward of Aglae, a wealthy Roman woman, and according to their Life the two lived together for years outside marriage. Wishing to change her life, Aglae sent him to the East to bring back relics of martyrs; Boniface asked, half in jest, whether she would receive his own body as a martyr’s.

At Tarsus in Cilicia he saw Christians being tortured, declared himself a Christian and was put to death about 290, under Diocletian. His companions bought his body and brought it to Rome, where Aglae buried it on the Latin Way, built a chapel over it and spent the rest of her life in penance.