Martina of Rome
Roman martyr
Martina of Rome, a Christian virgin, 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 30 January. She is one of the patron saints of Rome.
Biography
Martina was described as a noble and beautiful virgin, the daughter of an ex-consul and orphaned at an early age. 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 Martina's 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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This entry incorporates text from “Martina of Rome” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.