Saint Afra (died 304) was martyred during the Diocletian persecution. Along with Saint Ulrich, she is a patron saint of

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

. Her

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is August 7. Afra was dedicated to the service of the goddess, Venus, by her mother, Hilaria. Through his teachings, Bishop Narcissus converted Afra and her family to Christianity. When it was learned that Afra was a Christian, she was brought before Diocletian and ordered to sacrifice to the pagan gods. She refused, and was condemned to

death by fire ''Death by Fire'' is the third album by Swedish heavy metal band Enforcer. It was released on February 1, 2013, through Nuclear Blast.

Biography

Although many different accounts of her life exist, the most widely known is ''The Acts of St. Afra'', which dates from the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

period (8th century AD). In the opinion of most critics this is compilation of two different accounts, the story of the conversion of St. Afra, and the story of her martyrdom. The former is of later origin, and is merely a legendary narrative of Carolingian times, drawn up with the intention of connecting with St. Afra the organization of the church of Augsburg. Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Afra." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 12 Apr. 2013
/ref> In the late 3rd century, her pagan family journeyed from Cyprus to Augsburg. Afra was dedicated to the service of the goddess Venus by her mother, Hilaria."St. Afra, Martyr, of Augsburg, Germany", Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
/ref> According to this source, she was originally a

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

, having gone there from Cyprus, maybe even as the daughter of the

King of Cyprus The Kingdom of Cyprus (french: Royaume de Chypre, la, Regnum Cypri) was a state that existed between 1192 and 1489. It was ruled by the French House of Lusignan. It comprised not only the island of Cyprus, but it also had a foothold on the Anat ...

. She is reputed either to have run a

brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...

in that town or worked as a

hierodule Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, cult prostitution, and religious prostitution are rites consisting of paid intercourse performed in the context of religious worship, possibly as a form of fertility rite or divine marriage (). Scholar ...

in the

Temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

. As the

persecution Persecution is the systematic mistreatment of an individual or group by another individual or group. The most common forms are religious persecution, racism, and political persecution, though there is naturally some overlap between these term ...

of Christians during the reign of Roman Emperor

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

began,

Bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Narcissus of

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan language, Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter River, Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in ...

(in

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

) sought refuge in Augsburg and lodged with Afra and her mother, Hilaria. Through his teachings, Bishop Narcissus converted Afra and her family to Christianity. She continued to hide the bishop from the authorities. When it was learned that Afra was a Christian, she was brought before Diocletian and ordered to sacrifice to the pagan gods. She refused, and was condemned to death by fire on a small island in the

Lech River The Lech (, ''Licca'') is a river in Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube in length with a drainage basin of . Its average discharge at the mouth is . Its source is located in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, where the r ...

, with her remains being buried at a distance from the place of her martyrdom. Her mother and her maids (viz., Ligna, Eunonia, and Eutropia) later suffered the same fate, for interring her in a burial vault. According to an alternative account in an earlier document, Afra was beheaded, rather than having been burned. The ''

Martyrologium Hieronymianum The ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum'' (meaning "martyrology of Jerome") or ''Martyrologium sancti Hieronymi'' (meaning "martyrology of Saint Jerome") is an ancient martyrology or list of Christian martyrs in calendar order, one of the most used a ...

'' (a compilation of martyrs) mentions that Afra "suffered in the city of Augsburg" and was "buried there". Her

is August 5. According to Carl Egger, it appears that the author of the ''passio'' blended the account of Afra with that of Venerea, a martyr of Antioch, who is mentioned on the same day in the ''Martyrologium Hieronymianum''. Contrary to this, other ancient calendars portray Afra as a virgin.

Legacy

St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey St. Ulrich's and St. Afra's Abbey, Augsburg (german: Kloster Sankt Ulrich und Afra Augsburg) is a former Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine abbey dedicated to Ulrich of Augsburg, Saint Ulrich and Saint Afra in the south of the old city in Augsb ...

, Augsburg (german: Kloster Sankt Ulrich und Afra Augsburg) is a former Benedictine abbey dedicated to Saint Ulrich and Saint Afra in the south of the old city in Augsburg, Bavaria. From the medieval Saint Afra's church in

Meissen Meissen (in German orthography: ''Meißen'', ) is a town of approximately 30,000 about northwest of Dresden on both banks of the Elbe river in the Free State of Saxony, in eastern Germany. Meissen is the home of Meissen porcelain, the Albrecht ...

, the name passed via a former monastery of the

Canons Regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...

to the current

Sächsisches Landesgymnasium Sankt Afra zu Meißen Sächsisches Landesgymnasium Sankt Afra zu Meißen is a boarding school for highly gifted students in the German city of Meissen, Saxony. Founded in 1543 as ''Fürstliche Landesschule'' and re-established in 2001, the stated aim of the school is ...

, a boarding school in Saxony. Her exact birthdate is unknown There was a Church of Saint Afra in

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

(that was destroyed during the bombing of World War II).Richardson, Jessica N., "Through Water and Stone: The Brescia Sarcophagus Crossing of the Red Sea", ''Exodus: Border Crossings in Jewish, Christian and Islamic Texts and Images''
(Annette Hoffmann, ed.) Germany, De Gruyter, 2020. p. 53

References

External links

Short Fact List
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Afra 3rd-century births 304 deaths 3rd-century Germanic people 4th-century Germanic people 4th-century Roman women 4th-century Christian martyrs 4th-century executions 4th-century Christian saints Saints of Germania People executed by the Roman Empire History of Augsburg People from Augsburg Executed people from Bavaria Late Ancient Christian female saints Executed ancient Roman women Executed German women German prostitutes Converts to Christianity from pagan religions Germanic women Prostitution in ancient Rome

Biography

Legacy

See also

References

External links