Women Saints and Martyrs

June 27 St. Emma. Emma was a relative of Emperor St. Henry II and was also known as Hemma. She was raised at Henry's court by St. Cunegund, and according to legend was married to Landgrave William of Friesach. Their two children were murdered during an uprising of mines owned by William. Grief-stricken, he made a pilgrimage to Rome and died on the way back. Emma then decided to devote her life to God. She gave liberally to the poor, founded several religious houses and a double monastery at Gurk, Austria, she may have become a nun there. Despite the above legend, scholars believe she was of the Friesach family rather than William and that her son was killed in a battle twenty years after the death of her husband, Count William of Sanngan, about the year 1015, and it was at this time that she began her foundations. Her cult was confirmed in 1938. Her feast day is June 27th. June 28 St. Vincenza Gerosa , 1847 A.D. Co-foundress of the Sisters of Charity. A native of Lovere, Italy. O...

June 20 St. Florentina , 636 A.D. She was born in Cartagena, Spain, and was the sister of Sts. Leander, Isidore, and Fulgentius. Leander raised Florentina and founded a convent for her, where she became abbess. St. Helena , 750 A.D. Benedictine abbess of Ohren Abbey in Trier. Germany, also called Heliada. June 21 St. Demetria , 363 A.D. Reportedly the sister of St. Bibiana and the daughter of Sts. Flavian and Dafrosa. After the martyrdom of her parents, Demetria dropped dead when she was arrested with St. Bibiana Sts. Rufinus and Martia, 1st century. Martyrs put to death during the first persecutions of the Church in Syracuse, Sicily. June 22 St. Consortia , 570 A.D. Foundress of a convent endowed by King Clotaire I of Soissons and the Franks. Consortia reportedly cured Clotaire’s daughter of a mortal illness. She has long been venerated at Cluny, in France, but nothing is known of her life. June 23 Saint Ethelreda (Audrey), 679 A.D. About 640 A.D., there was an English princess nam...

June 13 St. Damhnade. Virgin venerated in Ireland. St. Felicula, 90 A.D. Virgin martyr , the foster sister of St. Petronilla. Flaccus, a powerful Roman official, proposed marriage to Petronilla and was refused. He then had her arrested. After Petronilla’s martyrdom, Felicula went without food or water in the prison. She was then thrown into a sewer, where she died. St. Nicomedes recovered her remains. St. Aquilina . Aquilina was born of Christian parents in Biblus, Phoenicia. She was arrested during Diocletian's persecution of Christians, and though only twelve, was beaten and decapitated by order of the Magistrate, Volusian, when she would not renounce her Faith. June 15 St. Adelaide , 1250 A.D. Also called Aleydis, a contemplative and miracle worker born in Schwaerbeek, Belgium, who was placed in a Cistercian convent at La Cambre when only seven years old. She grew up in this religious community and was beloved because of her humility and goodness. The nuns, however, discovered...

June 6 St. Cocca . Patroness of Kilcock on the borders of Counties Meath and Kildare in Ireland also called Cucca or Cuach. June 8 St. Eustadiola , 690 A.D. Widow and Benedictine abbess. She lived in Bourges, France, where she was widowed and left with a fortune. Eustadiola used the wealth to build a convent in Bourges, Moyenmoutier, where she retired and became an abbess. St. Melania the Elder , 410 A.D. Foundress, a patrician woman of the Roman Valerii family. She was one of the first Roman matrons to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where she founded a monastery on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. St. Calliope , 3rd century. An Eastern martyr who was beheaded. The date and location of her martyrdom are unknown. June 9 Bl. Diana . A member of the d'Andalo family, Diana was born near Bologna Italy, and convinced her father to withdraw his opposition to the founding of a Dominican priory on land he owned in Bologna. Dominic received her vow of virginity, but she was forced to ...

May 30 St. Joan of Arc, b.1412 d.1431 A.D. Patron of soldiers and France . St. Joan of Arc is the patroness of soldiers and of France. On January 6, 1412, Joan of Arc was born to pious parents of the French peasant class, at the obscure village of Domremy, near the province of Lorraine. At a very early age, she heard voices: those of St. Michael, St. Catherine and St. Margaret. At first the messages were personal and general. Then at last came the crowning order. In May, 1428, her voices "of St. Michael, St. Catherine, and St. Margaret" told Joan to go to the King of France and help him reconquer his kingdom. For at that time the English king was after the throne of France, and the Duke of Burgundy, the chief rival of the French king, was siding with him and gobbling up evermore French territory. After overcoming opposition from churchmen and courtiers, the seventeen year old girl was given a small army with which she raised the siege of Orleans on May 8, 1429. She then en...

May 23 St. Julia. Julia was born of noble parents in South Africa. When she was still quite young, her city was conquered by barbarians. Julia was captured and sold as a slave to a pagan merchant, but she did not complain or feel sorry for herself. She accepted everything, and performed the most humble tasks with wonderful cheerfulness. For Julia loved God with all her heart. In her spare time, she read holy books and prayed fervently. One day her master decided to take her with him to France. On the way, he stopped at an island to go to a pagan festival. Julia refused to even go near the place where they were celebrating. She did not want to have anything to do with those superstitious ceremonies. The governor of that region was very angry with her for not joining in the pagan feast. "Who is that woman who dares to insult our gods?" he cried. Julia's owner answered that she was a Christian. He said, too, that although he had not been able to make her give up her religio...

May 17 St. Restituta , 255 A.D. Virgin martyr . A maiden in Africa, she was put to death during the Roman persecutions at Carthage. Her date of death has been set at 255, which would mean she was martyred under Emperor Valerian; there is a possibility that she was executed at a later date, under Emperor Diocletian. Her relics are in Naples, Italy. May 18 St. Elgiva, 944 A.D. Queen and mother of Kings Edwy of the Saxons and Edgar, King of England, and wife of Edmund the First. She gave up public life and became a Benedictine nun at Shaftesbury. May 19 Sts. Cyriaca and Companions , 307 A.D. Six Christian maidens who died at the stake in Nicomedia. May 20 St. Basilissa . Basilla, also known as Basilissa, was a member of a noble Roman family. She refused to marry Pompeius, a Roman patrician, after her conversion to Christianity. She was beheaded for her faith when she was denounced to Emperor Galienus by Pompeius and remained steadfast in her refusal to marry him. St. Plautilla, 67 A.D. ...