Saint Praxedes is a traditional

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

of the 2nd century. Her name is sometimes rendered as Praxedis (Πραξηδίς) or Praxed.

Biography

Little is known about Praxedes, and not all accounts agree. According to

Jacobus de Voragine Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the ''Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medie ...

's ''

The Golden Legend The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...

'', Praxedes was the sister of Saint Pudentiana; their brothers were Saint Donatus and Saint Timothy. During one of the periods of persecution, they buried the bodies of Christians and distributed goods to the poor. De Voragine's brief account states they died in 165, "in the reign of Emperors Marcus and Antoninus II."

Sabine Baring-Gould Sabine Baring-Gould ( ; 28 January 1834 – 2 January 1924) of Lew Trenchard in Devon, England, was an Anglican priest, hagiographer, antiquarian, novelist, folk song collector and eclectic scholar. His bibliography consists of more than 1,240 ...

, in the entry for Saint Novatus, states that the holy virgin Praxedes was a daughter of Saint Pudens, sister of Saint Pudentiana, and that her brothers were Saint Novatus and Saint Timothy. Novatus is said to have died in 151.

Relics

The remains of Práxedes and Pudentiana were buried in the Catacomb of Priscilla, nicknamed the "queen of the catacombs" for its many martyrs and popes. Later, they became associated with a Roman church, ''Titulus Pudentis'', which is presumably named for their father, Saint Pudens, and was also known as the ''Ecclesia Pudentiana''. (This association may have led to Potentiana coming to be known as Pudentiana.) According to the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'', "The two female figures offering their crowns to Christ in the mosaic of the apse in St. Pudentiana are probably Potentiana and Praxedes." In the 4th century, a ''Titulus Praxedis'' church was built, especially connected with the veneration of Saint Praxedis. The relics of Práxedes and her sister were

translated Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

to that church, which was rebuilt by

Pope Paschal I Pope Paschal I ( la, Paschalis I; died 824) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 25 January 817 to his death in 824. Paschal was a member of an aristocratic Roman family. Before his election to the papacy, he was abbot of St. ...

(817–824), and dedicated to Saint Praxedis.

Churches dedicated to Saint Praxedis

Santa Prassede The Basilica of Saint Praxedes ( la, Basilica Sanctae Praxedis, it, Basilica di Santa Prassede all’Esquillino), commonly known in Italian as Santa Prassede, is an early medieval titular church and minor basilica located near the papal basilic ...

church 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 ...

Santa Praxedes, Cagayan Santa Praxedes, officially the Municipality of Santa Praxedes ( ibg, Ili nat Santa Praxedes; ilo, Ili ti Santa Praxedes; tl, Bayan ng Santa Praxedes), is a 5th class municipality in the province of Cagayan, Philippines. According to the 2020 ce ...

Sainte-Praxède, Quebec Sainte-Praxède is a parish municipality located in Les Appalaches Regional County Municipality in the Chaudière-Appalaches region of Quebec, Canada. Its population was 363 as of the Canada 2011 Census. It was named after Catholic saint Praxed ...

Notes

References

External links

*
Catholic Online

{{Authority control 165 deaths 2nd-century Christian saints Eastern Catholic saints Italian Roman Catholic saints Year of birth unknown Ante-Nicene Christian female saints