Saint Firmina is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

saint and virgin martyr. She is the patroness saint of

Civitavecchia Civitavecchia (, meaning "ancient town") is a city and major Port, sea port on the Tyrrhenian Sea west-northwest of Rome. Its legal status is a ''comune'' (municipality) of Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Rome, Lazio. The harbour is formed by ...

, and Amelia Cathedral is dedicated to her.

Legend

She is said to have lived in the 3rd century and to have suffered martyrdom during the persecution of

Diocletian Diocletian ( ; ; ; 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia (Roman province), Dalmatia. As with other Illyri ...

, but all information about her comes from a ''vita'' written not earlier than the 6th century. Later oral tradition has supplemented this with sometimes conflicting detail. The simplest version of her legend is that she belonged to a family of high status: her father Calpurnius was

prefect Prefect (from the Latin ''praefectus'', substantive adjectival form of ''praeficere'': "put in front", meaning in charge) is a magisterial title of varying definition, but essentially refers to the leader of an administrative area. A prefect' ...

of the city of

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

(''praefectus Urbis''). Olympiadis, a high official, attempted to seduce her but was converted by her to the Christian faith, for which he was martyred. She then left her family to devote herself to prayer in seclusion, near the city of Amelia in

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

, where she suffered

martyrdom A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' 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 external party. In colloqui ...

during the persecution of

and was buried. Other versions claim that she was martyred and buried in

. Many miracles are attributed to her, one of which occurred during a sea passage to Centumcellae, the present Civitavecchia, when a sudden violent storm was calmed by her miraculous intervention. Firmina is said to have lived for a time in a grotto near the port, over which was later built the Forte Michelangelo. She is often linked with two other virgin martyrs of Umbria, Saints Felicissima and Illuminata. It has been suggestedSanti e beati: Firmina
/ref> that all three are local cults of a single saint, the

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

n martyr Firmina commemorated in the

Martyrologium Hieronymianum The ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' (meaning "martyrology of Jerome") or ''Martyrologium sancti Hieronymi'' (meaning "martyrology of Saint Jerome") is an ancient martyrology or list of Christian martyrs in calendar order, one of the most used and ...

on 9 and 10 October.

Cult

Firmina's burial in Amelia is celebrated on 24 November, but her burial in Civitavecchia on 20 December. Her emblem is the palm frond. In Civitavecchia a procession in her honour is held on neither of the above dates but on 28 April. Her statue is carried down to the harbour and put on board a ship which takes it to the site of the ancient lighthouse, while the other ships and fishing boats sound their horns in celebration.

Notes

Sources and external links

Santiebeati: Firmina
{{authority control Saints from Roman Italy 4th-century Christian saints Virgin martyrs Christian martyrs