Saint Christina, Virgin & Martyr
S. Christinae Virginis et Martyris
Saint Christina is an early virgin and martyr long venerated in Italy, who gave her life for Christ in the age of persecution and whose memory is honoured each year on the twenty-fourth of July.
Saint Christina is numbered among the holy virgin-martyrs of the early Church, and her name has been held in honour from ancient times, especially around the lake of Bolsena in central Italy, where her cult took deep root. The Roman Martyrology commemorates her on the twenty-fourth of July, and the 1962 Missal keeps her memory on the same day.
What is reliably known
Little can be said of Saint Christina with historical certainty. The accounts of her passion that have come down to us belong to a later age and are bound up with much that the careful student cannot confirm. What the Church holds with confidence is that she was a true martyr — a young woman who, for love of Christ and in defence of her purity and her faith, suffered death rather than deny her Lord — and that her grave and memory were venerated by the Christians of Italy from very early times.
It is honest, and no dishonour to the saint, to say that her story has reached us chiefly through devotion rather than through documents. The veneration of Saint Christina is itself an ancient witness: the faithful of Bolsena did not invent a martyr but cherished the memory of one whose courage had marked their land.
Her witness
In Saint Christina the Church venerates the great company of young martyrs who, in the centuries of persecution, counted the friendship of Christ dearer than life itself. Of many such, only the name and the fact of martyrdom have survived; yet these are enough, for they are written in the book of life. Her feast invites the faithful to honour all the hidden saints whose particular histories are known to God alone, and to ask the help of her prayers.
The Collect
May the blessed Virgin and Martyr Christina implore for us Thy pardon, we beseech Thee, O Lord; for she was ever pleasing to Thee, both by the merit of her chastity and by her profession of Thy power.
Indulgéntiam nobis, quæsumus, Dómine, beáta Christína Virgo et Mártyr implóret: quæ tibi grata semper éxstitit, et mérito castitátis, et tuæ professióne virtútis.
Patronage
She has been venerated since ancient times in central Italy, especially at Bolsena on the lake that bears her name.
In the Modern Calendar
In the modern calendar she is no longer commemorated on the universal calendar, though her veneration continues in local and particular calendars.
Common Questions
When is the feast of Saint Christina?
Her feast is kept on 24 July in the calendar of the 1962 Roman Missal, as a Fourth Class feast.
Who was Saint Christina?
She was an early virgin and martyr, venerated from ancient times in Italy, who gave her life for Christ during the persecutions. Few details of her life can be confirmed with certainty, but the Church honours her as a true martyr.
Why do we know so little about her?
The surviving accounts of her passion are of a later date and cannot be fully verified. Her memory has come down to us chiefly through the long and faithful devotion of the Christian people, which is itself an ancient witness to her martyrdom.
See where this feast falls in the Church’s year on the liturgical calendar, or find a Traditional Latin Mass near you.
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