Matrona of Barcelona or Matrona of Thessalonica ( ca, Madrona, ) is a saint of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the

Orthodox Church Orthodox Church may refer to: * Eastern Orthodox Church * Oriental Orthodox Churches * Orthodox Presbyterian Church * Orthodox Presbyterian Church of New Zealand * State church of the Roman Empire * True Orthodox church See also * Orthodox (di ...

. She was recognized as a saint pre-congregation. She lived in the third or fourth century. She was a young girl and a slave to the Jewish woman Pautila (or Pantilla), wife of one of the military commanders (some sources say governor) of

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

. According to legend, she believed in Christ from her youth and Pautila constantly tried to convert her to Judaism. There are two stories of her martyrdom in one she was killed in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

for taking time to ministering to Christians, in the other she was so severely beaten when she refused to enter a synagogue with her mistress that she subsequently died of her wounds. She is venerated in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

and some villages in

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

. She is patron saint of the Santa Madrona church in Barcelona, the Santa Madrona hermitage in the mountain of

Montjuïc Montjuïc () is a hill in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Etymology Montjuïc translates to "Jewish Mountain" from medieval Latin and Catalan, and remains of a medieval Jewish cemetery have been found there. Some sources suggest that Montjuïc ...

, as well as churches in the villages of Madrona (

Pinell de Solsonès Pinell de Solsonès is a municipality in the province of Lleida and autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The villages of Madrona, Miravé, Pinell, Sallent Sallent () is a municipality in the comarca of Bages, Province of Barcelona, in ...

) and Móra d'Ebre. The feast day for the Matrona of Barcelona is 15 March, while that of the Matrona of Thessalonica is

27 March Events Pre-1600 *1309 – Pope Clement V imposes excommunication and interdiction on Venice, and a general prohibition of all commercial intercourse with Venice, which had seized on Ferrara, a papal fiefdom. * 1329 – Pope John XXII ...

(9 April old style).Great Synaxaristes:
Ἡ Ὁσία Ματρώνα ἡ Ὁμολογήτρια ἡ ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ
'' 27 ΜΑΡΤΙΟΥ. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.27 марта (ст.ст.) 9 апреля 2013 (нов. ст.)
Русская Православная Церковь Отдел внешних церковных связей. (DECR).

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CatholicSaints
{{Ethiopian saints by feast day 3rd-century Roman women 4th-century Roman women Christian child saints Saints of Roman Thessalonica Saints from Hispania Christian slaves and freedmen Deaths by beating in Europe