Women Saints and Martyrs

St. Dorotheus of Gaza - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online St. Dorotheus of Gaza, Presbyter, (like a bishop) lived in a cave, doing penance. My ministry was to other monks and priests. The granddaughter of the Spaniard, St. Melania the Great, Melania the younger once gave me five hundred solidi. I shared the funds with the other brothers. I kept three solidi. The rest I gave to another anchorite, Diocles, to distribute to those needy. Feastday June 5

St. Aurea - Saints St. Aurea, Roman Catholic Nun, During the Moorish Muslim occupation of Spain, she became a nun at a nearby Benedictine San Millan de la Cogolla abbey and lived as a solitary famed for her visions and miracles. Her feast day is March 11th

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...