Quiteria
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Quiteria was a second-century
virgin martyr The title Virgin (, ) is an honorific bestowed on female saints and blesseds, primarily used in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Chastity is one of the seven virtues in Christian tradition, listed by Pope Gregory I at the end ...
about whom little is certain except her name, the day and the place of her death, and her cult. She is listed under the date of 22 May in the ''
Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' () 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 approved appendices to it. It provid ...
''. She is one of the patron saints of
Toledo, Spain Toledo ( ; ) is a city and Municipalities of Spain, municipality of Spain, the capital of the province of Toledo and the ''de jure'' seat of the government and parliament of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla†...
.Giles, Ryan Dennis. ''The Laughter of the Saints: Parodies of Holiness in Late Medieval and Renaissance Spain'', University of Toronto Press, 2009, p. 54 et seq.
Accounts of her life are "absolutely legendary".


Name

''Quiteria'' may be derived from ''Kythere'' (or ''Kyteria'', ''Kuteria''), a title applied to the
Phoenicia Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n goddess
Astarte Astarte (; , ) is the Greek language, Hellenized form of the Religions of the ancient Near East, Ancient Near Eastern goddess ʿAṯtart. ʿAṯtart was the Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic equivalent of the East Semitic language ...
which meant "the red one", or from (the possibly related name) ''Cytherea'', an epithet of the Greek goddess
Aphrodite Aphrodite (, ) is an Greek mythology, ancient Greek goddess associated with love, lust, beauty, pleasure, passion, procreation, and as her syncretism, syncretised Roman counterpart , desire, Sexual intercourse, sex, fertility, prosperity, and ...
because she was born on the island of
Kythira Kythira ( ; ), also transliterated as Cythera, Kythera and Kithira, is an island in Greece lying opposite the south-eastern tip of the Peloponnese peninsula. It is traditionally listed as one of the seven main Ionian Islands, although it is dist ...
.


Legend

She is said to have been born in Bracara (now
Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...
, Portugal) to Lucius Catilius Serves, Roman governor of
Gallaecia Gallaecia, also known as Hispania Gallaecia, was the name of a Roman province in the north-west of Hispania, approximately present-day Galicia, northern Portugal, Asturias and Leon and the later Kingdom of Gallaecia. The Roman cities inclu ...
and
Lusitania Lusitania (; ) was an ancient Iberian Roman province encompassing most of modern-day Portugal (south of the Douro River) and a large portion of western Spain (the present Extremadura and Province of Salamanca). Romans named the region after th ...
, and Calcia, his wife. Her father wanted her to marry and renounce
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. Quiteria fled and her father's men found her at
Aire-sur-l'Adour Aire-sur-l'Adour (; or simply , before 1962: ''Aire'')Déc ...
, in
Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...
. She was
beheaded Decapitation is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and all vertebrate animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood by way of severing through the jugular vein and common c ...
on the spot. Her sister, Liberata, also suffered the same fate in the forest of Montus and lies in a 14th-century sarcophagus in the fortified church of Saint Jean Baptiste in Mazéres 32 km from her sister Quiteria in
Aire-sur-l'Adour Aire-sur-l'Adour (; or simply , before 1962: ''Aire'')Déc ...
.


Quiteria and the Nonuplet sisters

Portuguese religious traditions state that Quiteria was the leader of the "Nonuplet Sisters", who were named Eumelia (Euphemia), Liberata (Virgeforte), Gema (
Marina of Aguas Santas Marina of Aguas Santas (also Marina of Ourense) (c.120–135 AD) was a Christian virgin martyr from Aguas Santas, in the province of Ourense. The story of her life as it has been preserved is a mixture of fact and legends. Legend The traditio ...
, Margarida), Genebra, Germana, Basilissa, Marica; and Vitoria (Victoria). These were born in
Bracara Augusta Braga (; ) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality had a resident population of 201,583 inhabitants (in 2023), representing t ...
, currently Braga, in the region of
Minho Minho or Miño may refer to: People * Miño (surname) * Choi Min-ho, South Korean singer and actor known mononymously as Minho Places * Minho (river) or Miño, in Portugal and Spain Jamaica * Rio Minho, a river Portugal * Minho Province ...
to an important
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 Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
military official. Their mother, disgusted at the fact that she had given birth to nine daughters all at once as if she were a common peasant (or an animal), ordered a maid to take them to a river to drown them. (Alternately, Calcia, their mother, frightened that her husband would interpret these multiple births as a sign of infidelity, ordered her servant Sila to drown the girls in the Miñor River.)"Santa Quiteria", ACI Prensa
/ref> Disobeying her mistress, however, the maid gave the girls over to some local women who brought them up as Christians. As adult women, they opposed the worship of
Roman gods The Roman deities most widely known today are those the Romans identified with Greek counterparts, integrating Greek myths, iconography, and sometimes religious practices into Roman culture, including Latin literature, Roman art, and relig ...
and were brought before their father, who recognized them as his daughters. Their father wanted them to marry Roman officers or other suitors. The nonuplets refused and were imprisoned in a tower. However, they escaped and liberated all of their other prisoners. They subsequently waged a
guerrilla war Guerrilla warfare is a form of unconventional warfare in which small groups of irregular military, such as rebels, partisans, paramilitary personnel or armed civilians, which may include recruited children, use ambushes, sabotage, terrorism ...
in the mountains against the
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
. Quiteria was caught and beheaded. Her sister Eumelia, unable to escape from the soldiers who pursued her, threw herself from a
cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...
situated today in the
Peneda-Gerês National Park Peneda-Gerês National Park (, ), also known simply as Gerês, is a national park in Norte Region, Portugal. Created in May 1971, it is the oldest protected area and the only national park in Portugal. It covers an area of , occupying the Distric ...
(it is called today ''Penedo da Santa'', Cliff of the Saint). A rock opened up and swallowed her and on the spot, there sprang up a hot spring. Liberata (in Portuguese ''Livrada'') is the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
of
Sigüenza Sigüenza () is a city in the La Serranía, Serranía de Guadalajara Comarcas of Castile-La Mancha, comarca, Province of Guadalajara, Castile-La Mancha, Spain. History The site of the ancient ''Segontia'' ('dominating over the valley') of the C ...
. The chapel dedicated to her in the transept of the city's
cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...
, with a splendid
reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...
and the relics of the saint, was constructed at the expense of Bishop Fadrique de Portugal.Ramón Ruiz Amadó and Teodoro Rodríguez y Fernández
‘Sigüenza’
in ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'', vol. 13 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912).


Alternate legend

Other Portuguese traditions make her a native of ''Bracara'' ( Braga, Portugal) who was decapitated and thrown into the sea. This legend states that she emerged from the water with her head in her hands, and is thus sometimes represented as such. However, she is not considered one of the
Cephalophores A cephalophore (from the Greek for 'head-carrier') is a saint who is generally depicted carrying their severed head. In Christian art, this was usually meant to signify that the subject in question had been martyred by beheading. Depicting the ...
because there is no written record to support this. Her patronage against
rabies Rabies is a viral disease that causes encephalitis in humans and other mammals. It was historically referred to as hydrophobia ("fear of water") because its victims panic when offered liquids to drink. Early symptoms can include fever and abn ...
stems from the fact that her legend states that she held two rabid dogs at bay with the power of her saintly voice. A festival in her honour was first held at
Tui, Galicia Tui (; ) is a municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. It is located in the ''comarca'' of O Baixo Miño on the right bank of the Miño River, facing the Po ...
in 2018 after a proclamation was made by its bishop.


In Kuthenkuly

Kuthenkuly, a coastal village in the Indian state of
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
is the home to a shrine which is dedicated to Saint Quiteria. The shrine attracts thousands of pilgrims from different places. The shrine is known for its Thursday devotion. Quiteria is the patron saint of this village."We know the Temple"
/ref> The hagiography of Saint Quiteria (Kitheriammal Ammanai), a Tamil language manuscript is preserved in this village.


Miracles

Saint Quiteria's statue was first brought to the village Kuthenkuly by Thommai Poobalarayar, a native of Kuthenkuly, who made an intention to her for an heir and also built a chapel. His wife gave birth to a boy child. Many miracles were reported at Kuthenkuly. A few years later many people died of plague in the town, and all the villagers prayed to the saint and were saved from the plague. People converted the shrine of the saint into a big Church in 1914. In 2015, the centenary of the church was celebrated in a grand manner.


Veneration

There is a church dedicated to ''Sainte-Quitterie'' in Aire-sur-l'Adour.


References


External links


Santa Quiteria


{{DEFAULTSORT:Quiteria 5th-century Christian saints Ancient Christian female saints 5th-century Christian martyrs Virgin martyrs Cephalophores Gallo-Roman saints People from Braga Portuguese saints Saints from Hispania Multiple births Year of birth unknown