Emerentiana(Italian:Emerenziana) was aRomanvirgin andmartyr,who lived around the start of the 4th century. Her feast day is 23 January.
Emerentiana | |
|---|---|
 Emerentiana's likeness on theRoyal Gold Cup | |
| Virgin and martyr | |
| Died | circa 304 Rome,Roman Empire |
| Venerated in | |
| Canonized | Pre-Congregation |
| Majorshrine | BasilicaofSant'Agnese fuori le mura,Rome, Italy |
| Feast | 23 January |
| Attributes | young woman with stones in her lap and lilies in her hand; young lady being stoned to death |
| Patronage | stomach problems |
Legend
editAccording to the legend ofAgnes of Rome,Emerentiana was her foster sister.[1]Agnes was a rich Roman heiress who was martyred after refusing an engagement due to herChristianreligion. Emerentiana's mother was the wet nurse and nanny of Agnes.[2]
A few days after Agnes' death, Emerentiana, who was acatechumenstill learning about Christianity before being officially baptised, went to the tomb to pray and was suddenly attacked by the pagans. Having professed her faith and acknowledged her relationship to Agnes, she wasstoned to deathby the crowd. In this way, she can be considered to have undergone abaptism of desire,or abaptism of blood,according to the tenets of the Catholic Church.[1]
Veneration
editThere was a real Roman martyr named Emerentiana, whose cultus is very ancient, as attested by the martyrologies ofJerome,Bede,and others, but not even the date of her death is known.[3]In the nineteenth century her crypt in thecatacombswas discovered by Mariano Armellini.[4]Herfeast dayis 23 January.[1]Formerly, in themartyrology of Jerome,her feast was commemorated on 16 September.[1]Her cult has been confined to local calendars since 1969.[5]
She is represented as a young girl who either has stones in her lap and lilies in her hand,[2]or as being stoned to death by a mob. Her tomb is in the church ofSant'Agnese fuori le murain Rome.[6]An altar dedicated to her with a marble relief byErcole Ferratadepicting her martyrdom is inSant'Agnese in Agone.[7]
She is invoked against colic and stomach ache.[3]
Popular culture
editEmerentiana had a tinycameo rolein CardinalNicholas Wiseman's novel,Fabiola,where she is seen mourning for Agnes right after the latter's martyrdom.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^abcdKirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Emerentiana." The Catholic EncyclopediaVol. 5. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 4 December 2015
- ^ab"St. Emerentiana of Rome", Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America
- ^ab"S. Emerentiana, Virgin Martyr", The Brighton Oratory
- ^Broderick, Bona F. (1897)."Mariano Armellini: De Rossi's Successor".Catholic World.64:84–96.RetrievedFebruary 6,2024.
- ^"St Emerentiana", The British Museum
- ^David Farmer, Oxford Dictionary of Saints (Oxford University Press,1996) p157.
- ^"Altar dedicated to Saint Emerentiana", Sant'Agnese in Agone
External links
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