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St. Martina of Rome |
30 January 2023 |
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Martina of Rome was a Roman martyr under the Emperor Severus Alexander. A patron saint of Rome, she was martyred in 226, according to some authorities, more probably in 228, under the pontificate of Pope Urban I, according to others. Her feast day is January 30. The daughter of an ex-consul and orphaned at an early age, she was described as "a noble and beautiful virgin". She so openly testified to her Christian faith that she could not escape the persecutions under Severus Alexander. Arrested and commanded to return to idolatry, she refused, whereupon she was subjected to various tortures and was finally beheaded.
These tortures according to her vita include being scourged. She was condemned to be devoured by wild beasts in the amphitheater but was miraculously untouched by them. She was then thrown onto a burning pyre, from which she also escaped unhurt, and was finally beheaded. Her hagiography asserts that some of her executioners also converted to Christianity and were themselves beheaded.
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