After the miraculous victory obtained through the prayers of Christians under Marcus Aurelius in 174, the Church enjoyed a kind of peace, which was often disturbed by popular commotions or the superstitious fury of certain governors. A violent persecution was raised in Vienne and Lyons three years after the aforesaid victory, with St. Pothinus being bishop of Lyons and St. Irenæus, who had been sent there by St. Polycarp out of Asia, being a priest.
Among the many Christians tried by the Roman governor were Blandina and Sanctus. Blandina was a slave whose Christian mistress had been tormented and executed. Sanctus was a deacon of Vienne who was tortured to death by having red-hot metal plates pressed into his sides. Blandina was martyred last of all after encouraging and witnessing her younger brother being martyred.
The Roman authorities marked the joyfulness and courage of the martyrs. Christianity spread among the poor and the slaves: the first to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Many apostates returned to the faith through the example and prayers of the confessors. The persecutions ended in the fourth century when Emperor Constantine converted and decriminalized Christianity.

Lives of the Saints, by Alban Butler, Benziger Bros. ed. [1894

 

@Evangelizo