Jul 14, 2009
At the age of thirteen, Agnes refused to marry the Governor of Rome in favor of a life of chastity, purity, and devotion to God. In retaliation, he ordered that she be dragged through the streets, naked, to a brothel. On the way, she prayed and her hair grew long, shielding her nakedness.
Jul 14, 2009
Liberata was one of the King of Lusitania’s (now Portugal) nine daughters. Her father wished her to marry the King of Sicily, but she declared that she had privately taken a vow of celibacy. She prayed on the eve of her wedding to be freed of the marriage. In answer to her prayers, she sprouted a luxuriant beard. Horrified by her appearance, her suitor departed. In anger, her father had Liberata crucified.
Jul 14, 2009
Agatha lived around 250 CE. Her story shares similarities with that of Saint Lucy, as she refused many offers of marriage and instead chose to devote herself to God. But when Agatha denied her hand to Quintian, a Roman prefect, he had her imprisoned in a brothel, tortured and eventually put to death.
Jul 14, 2009
When Christina converted to Christianity, she distributed the idols among the poor and the needy. Furious, her father imprisoned and tortured her. Being thrown in a pit of snakes, shot with arrows, burned, and thrown into a lake with a millstone around her neck were just some of the fates she is said to have suffered.
Jul 14, 2009
Not much is known of Justine (or Justina), the patron saint of Padua. Medieval histories describe her as a follower of Saint Peter the Apostle, though her life around 300 CE makes this improbable.
Jul 14, 2009
According to legend, Ursula was the daughter of a British Christian King who lived sometime between 238 and 450 CE. She embarked on a voyage across the North Sea along with 10,000 maidens and ladies in waiting. On their way, Ursula decided to take a pilgrimage to Rome. They were attacked by the Huns in Cologne after Ursula refused to marry their chief, and everyone was beheaded.