SAINT FEBRONIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR - 25 JUNE

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN JUNE

Saints celebrated on the 25th of June

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SAINT FEBRONIA, VIRGIN AND MARTYR

At the time of Emperor Diocletian, Febronia lived in Sibapolis, a city in Syria, in a monastic community of fifty virgins under her cousin Bryene, who had given her an excellent education, had learned to despise the goods of this world, and to love Jesus. With all the ardour of a pure heart Febronia had indeed surrendered herself to the Saviour, spurning the lusts of the world, and no other desire than to be his bride, and to suffer and die for him. Her wish came true. 

Once the prefect Lysimachus came to the city, and soon Febronia stood before the judge Selenus. When she refused both to marry the prefect, who because of her youth and beauty had fallen in love with her, and to sacrifice to the gods, she was stripped of her clothes by order of Selenus, then set on fire and flogged. Since she always steadfastly refused to obey the ungodly commands, Selenus had her tongue ripped out, then her teeth smashed in, finally her hands and feet and even her breasts cut off. The executioners grew weary in with all the effort, but the maiden did not. Defeated by such supernatural fortitude, Selenus finally had the glorious sufferer beheaded. This happened in the year 304. When the prefect Lysimachus learned of these bloody events, he was very sad, whereupon Selenus committed suicide. But the latter had the virgin martyr buried in her monastery and converted to Christianity. In 363, the relics of the saint seem to have been taken to Constantinople to the church of Saint John the Baptist, where the holy virgins and martyrs Lybe, Leonis, and Eutropia were also buried, who had suffered at Sibapolis some time before. (V. 14.)

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 2, Augsburg, 1861, p. 167-68)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saint Febronia 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.

➡️ Saint Febronia's entry in the Roman Martyrology

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org