Marcellina (c. 327 – 397) was born in

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

the daughter of the Praetorian prefect of Gaul, and was the elder sister of

Ambrose of Milan Ambrose of Milan ( la, Aurelius Ambrosius; ), venerated as Saint Ambrose, ; lmo, Sant Ambroeus . was a theologian and statesman who served as Bishop of Milan from 374 to 397. He expressed himself prominently as a public figure, fiercely promot ...

and

Satyrus of Milan Satyrus of Milan ( it, San Satiro) was the confessor and brother of Ambrose and Saint Marcellina, Marcellina. He was born around 331 at Trier, Germany, moved to Rome with his family and was subsequently trained as a lawyer. Appointed prefect to o ...

. Marcellina devoted her life as a

consecrated virgin In the Catholic Church, a consecrated virgin is a woman who has been consecrated by the church to a life of perpetual virginity as a bride of Christ. Consecrated virgins are consecrated by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical ...

to the practice of

prayer Prayer is an invocation or act that seeks to activate a rapport with an object of worship through deliberate communication. In the narrow sense, the term refers to an act of supplication or intercession directed towards a deity or a deifie ...

and

asceticism Asceticism (; from the el, ἄσκησις, áskesis, exercise', 'training) is a lifestyle characterized by abstinence from sensual pleasures, often for the purpose of pursuing spiritual goals. Ascetics may withdraw from the world for their p ...

. Her feast is on 17 July.

Life

Marcellina was born in

around the year 330 into a Roman Christian family. Her father served as Praetorian prefect of Gaul. The sister of Ambrose of Milan, she was older than her two brothers. About the year 354 Ambrosius, their father, died, whereupon the family moved to Rome. It appears that after the death of their parents, she took responsibility for the upbringing of her younger brothers, Ambrose and Satyrus. As the eldest in her family, she made it a point to pass to her younger brothers the "desire not to express their virtue, but to become truly virtuous." She devoted herself to the practice of piety and asceticism, and received the veil of

consecrated virginity In the Catholic Church, a consecrated virgin is a woman who has been consecrated by the church to a life of perpetual virginity as a bride of Christ. Consecrated virgins are consecrated by the diocesan bishop according to the approved liturgical ...

from

Pope Liberius Pope Liberius (310 – 24 September 366) was the bishop of Rome from 17 May 352 until his death. According to the ''Catalogus Liberianus'', he was consecrated on 22 May as the successor to Pope Julius I. He is not mentioned as a saint in t ...

.Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Marcellina." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 9. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910. 28 November 2015 This life she led called for continual

abstinence Abstinence is a self-enforced restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, but it can also mean abstinence from alcohol, drugs, food, etc. ...

, dedication to prayer, strict fasting, etc. She lived a life of great austerity, which Ambrose tried to persuade her to mitigate. According to tradition, she turned the family home into a church dedicated in Mary, which later became

Sant'Ambrogio della Massima Sant'Ambrogio della Massima (also Sant'Ambrogio alla Massima) is a Roman Catholic church in rione Sant'Angelo, Rome, Italy, that perhaps dates to the 4th century. It was a convent until it became the subject of a Vatican investigation in the 1 ...

. After Ambrose had become Bishop of Milan in 374, he summoned his sister, and found in her a zealous assistant in fostering and extending the ascetic life among the maidens of Milan. Ambrose dedicated his work on virginity, written in 377, ''Libri III de virginibus ad Marcellinam'' to her. In his discourse on the death of his brother Satyrus, Ambrose speaks of the warm family affection which bound the three together, and of his sister's grief.

Paulinus the Deacon Paulinus the Deacon, also Paulinus of Milan was the notary of Ambrose of Milan, and his biographer. His work is the only life of Ambrose based on a contemporary account, and was written at the request of Augustine of Hippo; it is dated to 422 AD. A ...

, who wrote a biography of Ambrose at the request of

Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afr ...

, learned the details of Ambrose's life from Marcellina. Marcellina survived her brother by a year, dying in 398. Honored as a

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 ...

, she was buried in the crypt under the altar of the Ambrosian Basilica in Milan.

Legacy

The Institute St. Marcellina was established in 1955 in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the London Borough o ...

, London in honor of her. The institute, run by the Sisters of St. Marcellina, is a residence for foreign students.The Institute St. Marcellina, Sisters of St. Marcellina, London
/ref>

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcellina Saints of Germania Saints from Roman Italy 4th-century Christian saints 327 births 397 deaths Consecrated virgins People from Trier