Women Saints and Martyrs

October 3 St. Menna, 395 A.D. Virgin of Lorraine, France, sometimes called Manna. She was related to Sts. Eucherius and Elaptius. October 4 St. Aurea, 667 A.D. Abbess of St. Martial in Paris and disciple of St. Elegius. Aurea was a Syrian who was named abbess by St. Elegius in 633. She governed the community for thirty-three years until she and 160 nuns of her abbey died of the plague. St. Domnina, 310 A.D. Martyr with her daughters , Berenice and Prosdoce. They died in Syria and were commemorated by Greek hagiographers. October 5 St. Flora, 1347A.D. Patron of abandoned, converts, single laywomen, and victims of betrayal. Flora was born in France about the year 1309. She was a devout child and later resisted all attempts on the part of her parents to find a husband for her. In 1324, she entered the Priory of Beaulieu of the Hospitaller nuns of St. John of Jerusalem. Here she was beset with many and diverse trials, fell into a depressed state, and were made sport of by some of her r

September 26 St. Justina of Antioch. When Aglaides, a young pagan, fell in love with the beautiful Justina, a Christian of Antioch, he asked Cyprian to help him win her. Cyprian tried all his black magic and diabolical expertise to win her for himself but was repelled by her faith and the aid of Mary. He called on the devil, who assailed Justina with every weapon in his arsenal, to no avail. When Cyprian realized the overwhelming power of the forces arrayed against him and the devil, Cyprian threatened to leave the devil's service; whereupon the devil turned on Cyprian, only to be repulsed by the sign of the cross made by a repentant Cyprian, who realized the sinfulness of his past life. He then turned to a priest named Eusebius for instruction and was converted to Christianity. He destroyed his magical books, gave his wealth to the poor, and was baptized, as was Aglaides. Justina then gave away her possessions and dedicated herself to God. In time Cyprian was ordained and later w

September 19 St. Emily de Rodat . Born near Rodez, France, she became a nun at Maison St. Cyr when eighteen. In 1815 after much dissatisfaction, she decided that her vocation was in teaching poor children. With the approval of Abbe Marty, her spiritual adviser, and the aid of three young assistants, she began this work in her room at St. Cyr. This was the start of the Congregation of the Holy Family of Villefranche. It grew rapidly, establishing its own mother house and branches. In time, St Emily extended its activities to caring for unfortunate women, orphans and the aged. She saw thirty eight institutions established before she died. She was canonized in 1950. St. Maria de Cerevellon . Superior of the Mercedarians, the order of Our Lady of Ransom, also called Maria de Socos, “Mary of Help.” Born into a noble family of Barcelona, Mary formed a group that evolved into the Mercedarians. She labored among the Christian slaves of the Moors, and she is the patroness of sailors in Spain.

September 14 Sts. Caerealis and Sallustia, 251 A.D. Wife and her soldier husband martyred in Rome. They were converted by Pope St. Cornelius. Caerealis and Sallustia were slain during the persecution conducted by Emperor Trajanus Decius. September 15 St. Eutropia, 5th century. A widow of Auvergne, France, revered for her holiness. She was praised by Sidonius Apollinaris. St. Melitina, 2nd century. Virgin martyr of Marcianopolis in Thrace, modern Greece. She suffered in the reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius. Melitina’s relics were enshrined on the island of Lemnos, in the Aegean. September 16 St. Edith of Wilton . Edith of Wilton was the daughter of King Edgar of England and Wulfrida. She was born at Kensing, England, and was brought as a very young child to Wilton Abbey by her mother, who later became a nun there and Abbess. Edith became a nun when fifteen, declined her father's offer of three abbacies, and refused to leave the convent to become queen when her half-brother, Kin

September 5 St. Obdulia, Virgin , She was venerated at Toledo, Spain. Her remains are enshrined in Toledo, but details of her life are not extant. September 7 St. Regina. Martyr . She was an actual martyr at Autun, France. The daughter of a pagan, Clement, and tortured and beheaded during the second century when she refused to marry the proconsul Olybrius. Feast day is Sept 7th. St. Grimonia . Grimonia was the daughter of a pagan Irish chief, and that when she was twelve years old; she was converted to Christianity and made a vow of perpetual virginity. Her father, in defiance of or not understanding such a vow, wished her to marry, and when she refused, shut her up. Grimonia escaped and fled to France, where she became a solitary in the forest of Thierache in Picardy. Here the contemplation of the beauty of created things would often bring her to the state of ecstasy. After a prolonged search, the messengers of her father traced her to her retreat, where they before her the alternat

August 29 St. Sabina . Sabina was converted to Christianity by her Syrian servant Serapia. During the persecution of Emperor Hadrian, Serapia suffered martyrdom for her Christian Faith . It is believed that St. Sabina was murdered for the Faith about a month later. The reknowned basilica on the Aventine in Rome is dedicated to and named after her. Some sources hold that Sabina herself had it constructed in the third or fourth century. In an age when our Faith is ridiculed as being outmoded, we take heart in the lives of so many martyrs, like St. Sabina, who gave their lives under terrible conditions to defend and sustain their Faith. This confers on us a strong desire to persevere in God's love. St. Basilla . A holy virgin who was martyred at Smyma or at Sirmium, now Mitrovica, in former Yugoslavia. St. Candida. A martyr of the Ostian Way, Rome. Candida's remains are enshrined in St. Praxedes church, and were blessed by Pope St. Pasehal I in the ninth century. She was one of a

August 22 St. Ethelgitha . Benedictine abbess of Northumbria, England. August 23 Sts. Asterius and Companions, 303 A.D. Martyr with his brothers Claudius and Neon. In the persecution conducted by Emperor Diocletian, the brothers were denounced by their stepmother to Lysias, the proconsul of Cilicia. The brothers were scourged to death for the faith. Domnina, a Christian woman, was also beaten to death , and Theonilla, a Christian widow, was beaten and burned to death with live coals. St. Tydfil, 480 A.D. Welsh martyr, reportedly from the clan of Brychan. She was slain by a group of pagan Picts or Saxons and is venerated at Merthyr-Tydfil, Glamorgan. Wales. St. Ascelina , 1195 A.D. Cistercian mystic and relative of St. Bernard. She was born in 1121 and entered the Cistercian convent at Boulancourt, Haute-Marne, France. There she was known for her mystical gifts. St. Ebba , 870 A.D. Abbess of Coldingham, England, on the Scottish border, called “the Younger.” She and her nuns were marty

August 15 St. Limbania , 1294 A.D. Benedictine nun and hermitess of Genoa, Italy. She was a Cyprian by birth who remained in a cave in Genoa. August 16 St. Beatrix da Silva , 1490 A.D. Cistercian abbess born in Portugal in 1424. The daughter of a nobleman, Beatrix accompanied Princess Isabel of Portugal to the court of Spain. There she entered a Cistercian convent of Santo Domingo de Silos in Toledo. Also, she founded the Congregation of the Immaculate Conception. Her cult was confirmed in 1926, and she was canonized in 1976. St. Serena , 290 A.D. According to the Acts of St. Cyriacus, the wife of Emperor Diocletian. It is known that Prisca was the wife of that particular emperor. Bl. Mary Magdalen Kiota, 1620 A.D. Martyr of Japan . A princess of Japan and relative of a local lord, she was a Dominican tertiary. Arrested for sheltering missionaries, she was burned alive at Nagasaki . Mary was beatified in 1867. August 17 St. Clare of Montefalco . Clare was born at Montefalco, Italy, aro

August 7 St. Claudia . Claudia was the mother of Linus, who became the second Pope. The daughter of British King Caractacus, who was sent to Rome with his family in chains when he was defeated by Aulus Plautius. Released by Emperor Claudius, one of his daughters took the name Claudia, remained in Rome, was baptized, and is the Claudia mentioned in St. Paul's second letter to Timothy. Another tradition has her the daughter of Cogidubnus, a British ally of Claudius, who took the Emperor's name. Martial mentions a British lady, Claudia Rufina, and says she was married to his friend Aulus Pudens, a Roman senator. Another tradition has this senator the Pudens also mentioned in St. Paul's second letter to Timothy. August 8 Bl. Mary MacKillop , 1909 A.D. The first native Australian to be beatified. Born Mary Helen MacKillop in Melbourne, she was of Scottish ancestry. Concerned with the poor and suffering, Mary founded the Sisters of St. Joseph and of the Sacred Heart.

August 1 St. Elined. Welsh virgin and martyr , also called Ellyw and Almedha. She is honored in Lianelly and Llanelieu. St. Hope . According to an Eastern allegory explaining the cult of Divine Wisdom, Faith, Hope, and Charity were the daughters of Wisdom, a widow in Rome. The daughters suffered martyrdom during Hadrian's persecution of Christians: Faith, twelve, was scourged and went unharmed when boiling pitch was poured on her, was beheaded; Hope, ten, and Charity, nine, were also beheaded after emerging unscathed, from a furnace; and Wisdom died three days later while praying at their graves. St. Sofia . According to an Eastern allegory explaining the cult of Divine Wisdom, Faith, Hope, and Charity were the daughters of Wisdom (known as Sofia in the Roman Martyrology on September 30th), a widow in Rome. The daughters suffered martyrdom during Hadrian's persecution of Christians: Faith, twelve, was scourged and went unharmed when boiling pitch was poured on her, was beheaded

July 25 Sts. Thea and Valentina . Thea was born at Gaza, Palestine. She was arrested with other Christians during the persecution of Christians under Emperor Maximian and brought before Firmilian, governor of Palestine, at Caesarea. When she denounced him for threatening to place her in a brothel, he had her scourged. When a Christian of Caesarea, Valentina, protested, Firmilian had her dragged to a pagan altar, and when she kicked over the fire and incense before the altar, he had her tortured. He then bound Thea and Valentina together and had them burned to death. St. Glodesind , 608 A.D. Abbess in Metz, Germany. Glodesind ran from her wedding day after her betrothed was arrested and later executed. Becoming a nun, she eventually served as abbess. July 26 Sts. Joachim and Anne . Traditionally Joachim and Anne are considered to be the names of the parents of Mary, the Mother of God. We have no historical evidence, however, of any elements of their lives, including their names. Any st

July 18 St. Edburga of Bicester , 7th century. Nun at Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, England, the daughter of Penda, the pagan king of Mercia. Her shrine is at Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, but her relics, originally at Bicester, were taken to Flanders, Belgium. St. Marina. Martyr of Orense , in Spanish Galicia, Spain. All records of her sufferings are not extant. St. Gundenis, 203 A.D. Virgin martyr of Carthage. She died in the persecution of Septimius Severnus. July 19 Sts. Justa and Rufina, Virgins. These martyrs were two Christian women at Seville in Spain who maintained themselves by selling earthenware. Not to concur in idolatrous superstitions, they refused to sell vessels for the use of heathen ceremonies and when the worshipers broke up their stock-in-trade, Justa and Rufina retorted by overthrowing the image of a false goddess. Whereupon the people impeached them for their faith before the governor. The prefect, after they had boldly confessed Christ, commanded them to be str