Sts. Aquila and Priscilla
“Greet Prisca and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their necks for my life.”
This married couple worked beside St. Paul, welcomed local churches into their homes, and helped instruct the gifted preacher Apollos.
The story
Aquila and Priscilla, also called Prisca, were a Jewish Christian married couple of the first century. Acts identifies Aquila as a native of Pontus, a region beside the Black Sea. The couple had lived in Rome, but they went to Corinth after the emperor Claudius ordered Jews to leave the city, probably around the year 49. Scripture does not record when or where they first became Christians.
At Corinth they met St. Paul, who stayed and worked with them because they shared the trade of tentmaking or leatherworking. Their home and workshop became places of labor, friendship, and evangelization. When Paul later sailed for Syria, Aquila and Priscilla accompanied him as far as Ephesus. They remained there and opened their home to a Christian congregation. Paul sent greetings to the church that met in their house in 1 Corinthians 16.
At Ephesus the couple heard Apollos, an eloquent Jew from Alexandria, preach in the synagogue. He knew the Scriptures and spoke about Jesus, but his understanding was incomplete. Priscilla and Aquila took him aside and explained the way of God more accurately. Their correction was private, patient, and fruitful. Apollos later became an important preacher in Achaia. The episode shows a married couple exercising serious knowledge of the faith in service to the Church.
The couple eventually returned to Rome. In Romans 16, Paul calls Prisca and Aquila his coworkers in Christ Jesus and says that they risked their lives for him. He also greets the church in their house. The final New Testament reference, in 2 Timothy 4:19, places them again within Paul's circle. Scripture does not describe their deaths. Later traditions call them martyrs, but the historical details are uncertain. Their veneration comes from the ancient Church rather than from a later papal canonization process. The Roman Martyrology commemorates them together on July 8 as faithful spouses and apostolic coworkers.
What Aquila teaches
Aquila and Priscilla show how marriage, work, hospitality, and sound teaching can become one Christian vocation. Their home served the Church because their household was open to Christ and his people. The domestic church is described in CCC 1655 to 1658.
Patronage
married couples, Christian coworkers, tentmakers, house churches.
Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, you made Sts. Aquila and Priscilla faithful spouses and generous coworkers in the Gospel. Through their intercession, strengthen Christian marriages and make every Catholic home a place of truth, hospitality, and prayer. Amen.