Lucina (saint)

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The Lamentation of St. Sebastian - La Tour workshop, around 1650.

The name Lucina appears repeatedly in early Christian traditions ( Liber Pontificalis , Gesta Martyrum ) in connection with the deeds of pious Roman women. It may not designate a historical person, but the topos of the "Quaedam matrona", a noble woman or widow who provides for the appropriate mourning and burial of a martyr, since the time span of the stories extends from the 1st to the 4th century. Two of these characters named Lucina receive special mention, their memorial day is May 11th :

A Roman woman named Lucina Anicia appears in the account of the martyrdom of St. Sebastian . After his execution, the body was thrown into the Cloaca Maxima , the city's main sewer. The martyr appeared to Lucina in a dream and showed her the place; she recovered the body and buried it on the Via Appia , where there is now a church dedicated to the saint, San Sebastiano alle Catacombe .

Known only as Lucina is the Christian who, according to Liber Pontificalis, buried the bones of the Apostle Paul brought from the Calixtus catacombs in the middle of the 3rd century on Via Ostiense , where the church of San Paolo fuori le Mura is today . In addition, she buried the Bishop of Rome Cornelius underground on her own property on the Via Appia . The note from the liber pontificalis reads: “During the night, with the help of some clergymen, Blessed Lucina collected the remains of Pope Cornelius to be buried in a crypt that she had excavated from her property in the cemetery of Callixtus, on September 14th. "These so-called crypts of Lucina , where in addition to many other early Christian motifs ( Daniel in the lions' den , the Good Shepherd , the Jonah cycle, adorants ) also that of the Eucharistic fish is visible, belong to the oldest parts of the Calixtus Catacomb. The discoverer of the catacomb, Giovanni Battista de Rossi , suspected that it was not the legendary Lucina, but rather Pomponia Graecina , wife of General Aulus Plautius , which was historically tangible in the 1st century . According to Annals XIII, 32 of Tacitus , she was charged with a superstitio externa (a foreign superstition). De Rossi interpreted this superstition as Christianity and put forward the thesis that she had carried the baptismal name Lucina; She was thus the original owner and land donor of the area to the church, which is evident from grave inscriptions that bore the names of later members of her family such as Pomponius Grekeinos and Pomponius Bassus .

An ancient text ascribes Lucina a life span of about 210 to 305 and thus tries to unite most of the pious deeds in one person. This Lucina is said to have buried numerous other martyrs in Rome, including Cyriacus and Pope Marcellus I. In old age, she herself suffered martyrdom.

The name Lucina also bears the woman who is said to have found the boat with the body of the Restituta of Africa on the beach of Ischia in order to provide for their solemn burial.

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SURNAME Lucina
BRIEF DESCRIPTION christian martyr
DATE OF BIRTH at 210
DATE OF DEATH at 305
Place of death Rome