The patrons of Venafro are Saints Nicander, Marcian and Daria, and their feast lasts three days: 16, 17 and 18 June. Nicander and Marcian were two Roman soldiers, probably from Moesia — today's Bulgaria — stationed at Venafro; tradition says Daria was Nicander's wife. They embraced Christianity knowing full well what they risked, were arrested and on 17 June 303 sentenced to death for refusing to renounce their faith.
Tradition and documents do not entirely agree here: the Roman Martyrology records the martyrdom of Nicander and Marcian, but not that of Daria, who survives only in popular legend. It was she, the story goes, who encouraged her husband to confirm his faith in Christ by refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods. In the basilica of Saints Nicander, Marcian and Daria, with its adjoining convent, are kept the silver bust of Saint Nicander, the gold head-reliquary and some relics of the martyrs.
