![[painting of Saint Martina]](http://saints.sqpn.com/saintm2g.jpg "30kb jpg detail from 'Virgin and Child with Saint Martina and Saint Agnes' by El Greco, 1597-1599, oil on canvas, National Gallery of Art, Washington, District of Columbia, USA")
- 30 January
- formerly 20 January
- removed from the general calendar in 1969, but not local ones
Profile
Wealthy daughter of a Christian Roman consul. On her parent’s death, she gave away her riches to the poor and devoted herself to prayer. Tortured and martyred in the persecutions of Alexander Severus for refusing to sacrifice to pagan gods. A basilica is dedicated to her at the Roman forum.
In the time after her death there were a series of biographies and descriptions of her martyrdom written, each more extravagant that the last, and none with historical value. Assorted miracles were ascribed to her, and her story was blended with those of other early martyrs, especially Saint Prisca and Saint Tatiana of Rome. One of the writers claimed that when she was beheaded, her body bled milk, a tale that led to her patronage of nursing mothers.
- martyred in 228
- relics discovered on 25 October 1634 in a crypt near Mamertine prison at the Roman forum during a church construction project ordered by Pope Urban VIII
- woman tortured by being hung on a two-pronged hook
- being beheaded by a sword
- young woman with a lion
- receiving a lily and the palm of martyrdom from the Virgin and Child
Additional Information
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Catholic Encyclopedia, by Léon Clugnet
- Catholic Online
- Catholic Online
- Heiligen 3s
- Katherine Rabenstein
- Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
MLA Citation
- “Saint Martina of Rome“. Saints.SQPN.com. 29 January 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <>