(d. 257) Little is known about Rufina and Secunda for certain other than the antiquity of their memorial and relics. The oldest indications are that they were sisters and virgins, daughters of a Roman senator, who were both tortured and beheaded for refusing to renounce their Christian faith in the persecution of Valerian.

We don’t always know someone else’s story. We don’t have all the solutions to everyone else’s issues, but we rally around a common solution proven effective in the lives of so very many predecessors. In each life, a “spiritual awakening” occurs “as the result of these Steps,” so “we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs” (Step 12). Little-known saints whose lives are predominantly mystery still inspire us, as does the newcomer who has decided to try a new way of life.

Saints Rufina and Secunda, pray for us, that we may come to care more about the message than our own mess. “O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love” (Saint Francis Prayer).

Reflection by Brad Farmer