Pudentiana is a traditional
Christian saint
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Or ...
and
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
ess of the 2nd century who refused to worship the Roman Emperors
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good E ...
and
Antoninus Pius as deities. She is sometimes locally known as Potentiana and is often coupled with her sister,
Praxedes
Saint Praxedes is a traditional Christian saint of the 2nd century. Her name is sometimes rendered as Praxedis (Πραξηδίς) or Praxed.
Biography
Little is known about Praxedes, and not all accounts agree. According to Jacobus de Vora ...
the martyr.
Legend
According to her ''acta'' and the
Martyrology of Reichenau, she was a
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
* Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lett ...
virgin
Virginity is the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. The term ''virgin'' originally only referred to sexually inexperienced women, but has evolved to encompass a range of definitions, as found in traditional, modern ...
of the early Christian church, daughter of
Saint Pudens, ''friend of the Apostles'', and sister of Praxedes. Praxedes and Pudentiana, together with presbyter Pastor and
Pope Pius I, built a baptistry in the church inside their father's house, and started to baptize pagans. Pudentiana died at the age of 16, possibly a martyr, and is buried next to her father Pudens, in the Priscilla catacombs on the
via Salaria.
While there is evidence for the life of Pudens, there is no direct evidence for either Pudentiana or Praxedes. It is possible that the early Church's ''"ecclesia Pudentiana"'' (i.e., the Church of Pudens) was mistaken for "Saint Pudentiana".
Veneration
A
basilica
In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica is a large public building with multiple functions, typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek East. The building gave its nam ...
in Rome is named for her, and her commemoration in the
General Roman Calendar
The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These cel ...
fell on 19 May until its
1969 revision. Pudentiana is now mentioned neither there nor in the
Roman Martyrology
The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approve ...
.
The Spanish
Conquistador
Conquistadors (, ) or conquistadores (, ; meaning 'conquerors') were the explorer-soldiers of the Spanish and Portuguese Empires of the 15th and 16th centuries. During the Age of Discovery, conquistadors sailed beyond Europe to the Americas, ...
Miguel López de Legazpi
Miguel López de Legazpi (12 June 1502 – 20 August 1572), also known as '' El Adelantado'' and ''El Viejo'' (The Elder), was a Spaniard who, from the age of 26, lived and built a career in Mexico (then the Viceroyalty of New Spain) and, ...
, the founder of the modern
City of Manila
Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital city, capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is Cities of the Philippines#Independent cities, highly urbanize ...
, gained possession of the territory on 19 May 1571. As it was the Feast of Pudentiana (in
Spanish ''Potenciana''), Legazpi declared her
patroness of what is now the
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
.
By the
Apostolic Letter ''Impositi Nobis'' of 12 September 1942,
Pope Pius XII, at the request of the
Philippine episcopacy, declared the Virgin Mary under the
title
A title is one or more words used before or after a person's name, in certain contexts. It may signify either generation, an official position, or a professional or academic qualification. In some languages, titles may be inserted between the f ...
of the
Immaculate Conception as principal patroness of the country, with Saints Pudentiana and
Rose of Lima as secondary patronesses, mentioning that historical documents indicated Pudentiana as patroness from the 16th century and Rose of Lima from the 17th. Today,
Intramuros
Intramuros (Latin for "inside the walls") is the historic walled area within the city of Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is administered by the Intramuros Administration with the help of the city government of Manila.
Present-day ...
(the walled Spanish citadel that was the nucleus of Manila) still has a street that bears her name.
Homonymous town in Numidia
The name
Pudentiana is also the name of an unrelated ancient town and
episcopal see
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, mak ...
in the
Roman province
The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...
of
Numidia
Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tunis ...
, which is among the
titular see
A titular see in various churches is an episcopal see of a former diocese that no longer functions, sometimes called a "dead diocese". The ordinary or hierarch of such a see may be styled a "titular metropolitan" (highest rank), "titular archbi ...
s listed in the
Annuario Pontificio
The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials of the Holy See's departments. It also provides name ...
. Two holders of the titular see have become
cardinals:
Mario Casariego y Acevedo and
Oscar Andrés Rodríguez Maradiaga
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
.
See also
*
Saint Potenciana
*
Novatus
Saint Novatus (died c. 151) is an early Christian saint. His feast day is 20 June.
Novatus and his brother, the martyr Timotheus, were the sons of Saint Pudens, and the brothers of Saints Pudentiana and Praxedes. His paternal grandfather was Q ...
References
External links
*
St. Pudentiana
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pudentiana
2nd-century Christian martyrs
2nd-century Romans
2nd-century Roman women
Christian child saints
Ante-Nicene Christian female saints
Italian saints
Year of birth unknown
Legendary Romans