Saints Jovita and Faustinus were said to be
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 ...
martyr
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
s under
Hadrian
Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania B ...
. Their traditional date of death is 120. They are
patron saints
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or person.
I ...
of
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. ...
.
Traditional vita
Tradition states that they were members of a noble family of Brescia in
Lombardy
Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...
(northern Italy). Jovinus, the older brother, was a preacher; Faustinus, a
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Churc ...
. For their fearless preaching of the Gospel, they were arraigned before the
Roman Emperor Hadrian, who at Brescia,
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 ...
and
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, subjected them to frightful torments, after which they were
beheaded
Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the ...
at Brescia in the year 120, according to the
Bollandists
The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century h ...
, although historian
Paul Allard
Paul Allard (15 September 1841 – 4 December 1916) was a French archaeologist and historian.
Biography
He was admitted to the bar and practised law for a short time in his native city, where he became a judge of the civil court. His literary ...
(''Histoire des Persécutions pendant les Deux Premiers Siècles'', Paris, 1885) places the date as early as 118.
[Murphy, John F.X. "Sts. Faustinus and Jovita." The Catholic Encyclopedia]
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 1 November 2021
Saint Faustinus of Brescia, a
bishop of Brescia
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brescia ( la, Dioecesis Brixiensis) is a Latin rite suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Milan, in Lombardy (Northwestern Italy).[Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...]
Fedele Savio questioned nearly every fact related of them except their existence of the martyrdom, which are too well attested by their inclusion in so many of the early
martyrologies
A martyrology is a catalogue or list of martyrs and other saints and beatification, beati arranged in the calendar order of their anniversaries or feasts. Local martyrologies record exclusively the custom of a particular Church. Local lists were ...
and their extraordinary cult in their native city, of which from time immemorial they have been the chief patrons.
[ Savio emphasizes that the saints are not to be identified with the fabulous figures in the Acts.
It is believed that they were martyred at a site that either was, or later became, a Roman cemetery. A church was built there called ''Santi Faustino e Giovita ad sanguinem''. Its dedication was later changed to Saint Afra. {Saint Afra's was destroyed during the bombing of World War II).
Their common feast day on 15 February, the traditional date of their martyrdom, was inserted into the ]General Roman Calendar
The General Roman Calendar is the liturgical calendar that indicates the dates of celebrations of saints and mysteries of the Lord (Jesus Christ) in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church, wherever this liturgical rite is in use. These celebra ...
. It was removed in 1969, because their "Acts are completely fabulous, treating Jovita as a preacher, although she was a woman and a man was Faustinus." The two saints remain listed in the Roman Martyrology
The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...
, the official, through professedly incomplete, list of the saints recognized by the 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 ...
. The cities of 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 ...
, Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
, Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...
and Malečnik
Malečnik (, german: Maletschnig) is a village on the left bank of the Drava River east of Maribor in northeastern Slovenia. It belongs to the City Municipality of Maribor.
There are two churches in the settlement. The local parish church is dedic ...
share with Brescia possession of their relics
In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...
.
A lake partially in the town of St. Leo, Florida
St. Leo is a town in Pasco County, Florida, United States. It is a suburb included in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,340 at the 2010 census. It is best known as the home of St. ...
has been called Lake Jovita since its discovery by Judge Edmund F. Dunne on February 15, 1882. The nearby community of San Antonio
("Cradle of Freedom")
, image_map =
, mapsize = 220px
, map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = United States
, subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State
, subdivision_name1 = Texas
, s ...
changed its name to Lake Jovita in 1927 before reverting in 1933.[Horgan, James J. (1990). ''Pioneer College: The Centennial History of Saint Leo College, Saint Leo Abbey, and Holy Name Priory''. Saint Leo, FL. Saint Leo College Press. ]
References
Sources and external links
Faustinus at Patron Saints Index
Saint of the Day, February 15: ''Jovita and Faustinus''
at ''SaintPatrickDC.org''
*{{in lang, it}
San Faustino
2nd-century Christian martyrs
Sibling duos
120 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Ante-Nicene Christian saints
Groups of Christian martyrs of the Roman era