Feast of the Holy Maccabees, Martyrs

"Ss. Martyrum Machabæorum" refers to the Feast of the Holy Maccabees, Martyrs.

This feast is celebrated in the liturgical calendar of the Latin Church.

The Maccabees were Jewish martyrs who lived in the 2nd century BC, and their story is recounted in the Books of the Maccabees in the Old Testament. They are venerated as saints in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The feast day is observed on August 1st.

The term "Machabæorum" is the Latin form of "Maccabees". The "Ss." stands for "Sanctus", which means "Saint" in Latin.

So, "Ss. Martyrum Machabæorum" can be translated as "Saints, the Martyrs of the Maccabees".

The Maccabees were a group of Jewish rebel warriors who took control of Judea, which at the time was part of the Seleucid Empire¹. They founded the Hasmonean dynasty, which ruled from 167 to 37 BCE, being a fully independent kingdom from 104 to 63 BCE. They reasserted the Jewish religion, expanded the boundaries of Judea by conquest, and reduced the influence of Hellenism and Hellenistic Judaism.

The Maccabees proper comprised Judas Maccabeus and his four brothers. The name Maccabee was a personal epithet of Judah, and the later generations were not his direct descendants. One explanation of the name's origins is that it derives from the Aramaic maqqəḇa, "the hammer", in recognition of Judah's ferocity in battle. The traditional Jewish explanation is that Maccabee is an acronym for the Torah verse that was the battle-cry of the Maccabees, "Mi chamocha ba'elim YHWH", "Who is like You among the heavenly powers, Yahweh!".

In the 2nd century BCE, Judea lay between the Ptolemaic Kingdom (based in Egypt) and the Seleucid Empire (based in Syria), monarchies which had formed following the death of Alexander the Great. Judea had initially come under Ptolemaic rule but fell to the Seleucids around 197 BCE. Some Jews, mainly those of the urban upper class, notably the Tobiad family, wished to dispense with Jewish law and to adopt a Greek lifestyle.

When Antiochus IV Epiphanes became ruler of the Seleucid Empire in 175 BCE, Onias III held the office of high priest in Jerusalem. Jason, the brother of Onias, bribed Antiochus to make him high priest instead of Onias. Antiochus IV severely restricted the practice of Judaism, whose strict monotheism impeded the realization of his policy.

The Maccabean Revolt of 167-160 BCE was a Jewish uprising in Judea against the repression of the Seleucid Empire. The revolt was led by a country priest called Mattathias, and his military followers became known as Maccabees. After reconsecrating the Temple, an event commemorated annually by the Hanukkah festival, the Maccabees established the Hasmonean dynasty.

(1) Maccabees - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maccabees.

(2) Maccabees | Meaning, History, Significance, Revolt, & Facts. https://www.britannica.com/topic/Maccabees.

(3) The Maccabean Revolt - World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/article/827/the-maccabean-revolt/.

(4) Who Were the Maccabees? - TheCollector. https://www.thecollector.com/who-were-maccabees/.

(5) Ss. Machabaeorum, martyrum 3/08 - Liturgical Office. https://liturgicaloffice.org/en/library/ss-machabaeorum-martyrum-3-08/.

(6) St Anne's Traditional Latin Mass Community, Belmont, Perth. https://www.facebook.com/tlmperth/posts/traditional-latin-mass-of-saturday-1st-august-2020-at-st-annes-commemoration-of-/1812626715547019/.

(7) www.divinumofficium.com. https://www.divinumofficium.com/www/missa/English/Sancti/08-01r.txt.