SAINT PASCASIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR - 9 JANUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JANUARY

Saints celebrated on the 9th of January

SAINT PASCASIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR

A page of one of Fortunatus Hueber's
Saints' books,
"Stammenbuch..." (1693)

Pascasia (Paschasia) was a spiritual daughter of Saint Benignus, who had taught her the faith and administered her baptism.

Like her saintly tutor, she lived, suffered and died in Dijon (Divio) in Burgundy. Whether she was martyred  on the same day as Saint Benignus, as some say, is not certain. 

According to legend, her body was burned after being decapitated. Her remains, which had been collected by the faithful, were interred near the tomb of Saint Benignus.

In 1001, when the Church of Saint William had been completely restored, one of the altars was dedicated to Saint Pascasia. She is venerated at Dijon and other places on January 9. 

Gregory of Tours relates that through her intercession he was freed from a stubborn eye disease. Her happy death must have occurred in the second century; more specifically, as the Bollandists* state, did she give her earthly life for Christ during the persecution under Marcus Aurelius, i.e. in the years 161-180. Migne*, on the other hand, places her death in the third century, but without providing any explanation or further details.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 4, Augsburg, 1875, p. 683)

*A hagiography source used by the authors 

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Pascasia may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.