Saint Marciana | |
|---|---|
 The Martyrdom of Saint Marciana. 15th century French manuscript. | |
| Martyr | |
| Died | 304 Caesarea, Mauretania Caesariensis |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | January 9 |
| Attributes | sometimes depicted with a leopard and bull near her [1] |
| Patronage | invoked to cure wounds |
Marciana of Toledo, also known as Marciana of Mauretania and Marciana of Caesarea, [2] (died 9 January 304) [3] is venerated as a martyr and saint.
Her feast day is celebrated by both the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church on July 12. [4] In some early calendars, her feast day is celebrated on January 9. [5]
According to Alban Butler, Marciana was a native of Rusuccur in Mauretania, in modern day Algeria. [7] [8]
Historian Brent Shaw states that her legend emphasized her virginity and commitment to asceticism, and contained "a new kind of hostility that was added to the old story of Christian-pagan hatreds". [3] According to her story, Marciana was a devout young Christian woman "so filled with zeal for her new faith" [3] that she left her family home to reside in Caesarea, approximately 80 miles east of their home and "immediately displayed an aggressive hostility to traditional forms of civic religion". [3]
She abhorred the worldly benefits of a high social status and she put aside her worldly riches. She traveled to Caesarea, Mauretania (modern-day Algeria) and took up residence in a cave in order to preserve her virginity (for she was said to be very beautiful) and consecrated herself to God through various exercises in fasts and other practices of self-deprivation that were used in lieu of martyrdom. Caesarea was by that time occupied by the Roman Empire under the Emperor Diocletian [9] (284-305 A.D. [10] ).
Marciana's martyrdom occurred during the Diocletianic Persecution. The Latin account of her martyrdom was written possibly in the 5th century. [11] Shaw states that she led an "aggressive anti-idolatry campaign". [3] While walking in the public square, Marciana attacked a statue of the Roman goddess Diana, tearing the head off and smashing the body to pieces. [9] The local citizens had her arrested and brought her before the governor's tribunal for punishment. [12] She was imprisoned in the local gladiatorial school, which Shaw states was "a brutal test" [13] of her sexual purity. Marciana was then punished by being thrown in the local arena, where she was mangled by a bull. After her death, a leopard was sent in and it snapped her neck. [13] .
Marciana died in Caesarea, Mauretania Caesariensis. [3] Her relics were moved to Toledo, which led to her being known as "Marciana of Toledo." [14]
Shaw states that Marciana's story demonstrates the conflict between the Christian and Jewish communities in Caesarea during the period and was part of the "long and well-developed” anti-Jewish literature of the time. [15] Shaw cautions, however, that narratives like this, that directly include Jews in the persecution of Christians in Africa during the 4th and 5th centuries, were "exceedingly rare". [15]
Agnes of Rome is a virgin martyr, venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, Oriental Orthodox Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, as well as the Anglican Communion and Lutheran Churches. She is one of several virgin martyrs commemorated by name in the Canon of the Mass, and one of many Christians martyred during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian.
Saint Afra was martyred during the Diocletian persecution. Along with Saint Ulrich & St Simpert, she is a patron saint of Augsburg. Her feast day is August 7. Afra was dedicated to the service of the goddess Venus by her mother, Hilaria. Through his teachings, Bishop Narcissus converted Afra and her family to Christianity. When it was learned that Afra was a Christian, she was brought before Diocletian and ordered to sacrifice to the pagan gods. She refused and was condemned to death by fire.
Saint Pamphilus, was a presbyter of Caesarea and chief among the biblical scholars of his generation. He was the friend and teacher of Eusebius of Caesarea, who recorded details of his career in a three-book Vita that has been lost.
Saint Anastasia is a Christian saint and martyr who died at Sirmium in the Roman province of Pannonia Secunda. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, she is venerated as St. Anastasia the Pharmakolytria, i.e. "Deliverer from Potions". This epithet is also translated as "One who Cures (Wounds)" in Lampe's A Patristic Greek Lexicon.
Saints Simplicius, Faustinus and Beatrix were siblings martyred in Rome during the Diocletian persecution.
Euphemia, known as Euphemia the All-praised in the Eastern Orthodox Church, was a virgin martyr, who died for her faith at Chalcedon in 303 AD.
Saints Cyprian and Justina are honored in the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church and Oriental Orthodoxy as Christians of Antioch, who in 304, during the Diocletianic Persecution, suffered martyrdom at Nicomedia on September 26. According to Roman Catholic sources, no Bishop of Antioch bore the name of Cyprian.
Julian and Basilissa were husband and wife, and are venerated as saints in the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. They were Christian martyrs who died at either Antioch or, more probably, at Antinoe, in the reign of Diocletian, early in the fourth century, on 6 January, according to the Roman Martyrology, or 8 January, according to the Greek Menaea.
St. Charitina of Amisus was a virgin martyr from Asia Minor, distinguished by strict chastity and piety. Charitina spent her life in fasting, prayer and study. By her example she converted many to Christianity during the reign of Emperor Diocletian and was seized in the city of Amisus in Pontus. After torture and death, her body was thrown into the sea in the year 304.
Rictius Varus was a Vicarius in Roman Gaul at the end of the 3rd century, around the time of the Diocletianic Persecution. The Roman Martyrology contains many references to the prefect Rixius Varus, who is said to have persecuted hundreds of Christians. In Christian hagiography he later repented and became a Christian martyr himself, and is regarded a Saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, with his feast day on July 6.
Procopius of Scythopolis was a 4th century martyr who is venerated as a saint. He was a reader and exorcist in the church at Scythopolis; he also was famous as an ascetic and erudite theologian. Eusebius of Caesarea wrote of his martyrdom, which occurred during the persecution of Roman Emperor Diocletian, and stated that "he was born at Jerusalem, but had gone to live in Scythopolis, where he held three ecclesiastical offices. He was reader and interpreter in the Syriac language, and cured those possessed of evil spirits." Eusebius wrote that Procopius was sent with his companions from Scythopolis to Caesarea Maritima, where he was decapitated.
The title Virgin is an honorific bestowed on female saints and blesseds, primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.
Hripsime, also called Rhipsime, Ripsime, Ripsima, Ripsimia, Ripsimus, Arbsima or Arsema, was a martyr of Roman origin; she and her companions in martyrdom are venerated as some of the first Christian martyrs of Armenia.
Saint Zoe of Rome was a noblewoman, married to Nicostratus, a high Roman court official.
Dorothea of Caesarea is a 4th-century virgin martyr who was executed at Caesarea Mazaca. Evidence for her actual historical existence or acta is very sparse. She is called a martyr of the late Diocletianic Persecution, although her death occurred after the resignation of Diocletian himself.
Saint Demiana and the 40 virgins was a Coptic martyr of the early fourth century.
Gaius Annius Anullinus was a Roman senator who was appointed consul in AD 295.
Pelagia the Virgin, also known as Pelagia of Antioch, was a Christian saint and virgin martyr who leapt to her death during the Diocletianic Persecution in refusal to offer a public sacrifice to the pagan gods by Roman soldiers, or to do "something unspeakable ", typically inferred as the Roman soldiers attempting to rape her. She is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church.
The Three virgins of Tuburga were a group of young women who were executed for being Christians around 257 AD, in what was Roman-era Tunisia.
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