Saint Saturnina (french: Sainte Saturnine) is venerated as a
Christian virgin
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 ...
, “now believed to most likely be purely legendary.”
Legend
Her legend states that she came from a noble
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
** Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
family (her father was a king
), and that she took a vow of
celibacy at the age of twelve. When her parents forced her into marriage when she turned twenty,
she fled from
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
into
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
[Agnes Baillie Cunninghame, ''A Dictionary of Saintly Women'' (Bell, 1905), 216-7.] The man to whom she had been promised, a
Saxon lord, pursued her into France after receiving approval to do so from Saturnina's parents. He found her hiding with some shepherds at
Arras; she had been working as a maidservant.
He attempted to
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ...
her, and when she resisted him, he
decapitated
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 i ...
her.
The lord miraculously drowned in a fountain, and
Saturnina then carried her own head in her hands, and as witnessed by the townspeople, carried her head to the church of St. Remi, which was in the next village: Sains-Les-Marquion. She was then buried there.
Another tradition states that Saturnina placed her head on a stone at
Sains-lès-Marquion
Sains-lès-Marquion is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Sains-lès-Marquion lies about southeast of Arras, at the junction of the D15 and D16 roads.
Population
Places of interest
* ...
, proclaiming herself to be the last human sacrifice the town would ever suffer.
Veneration
At Sains-lès-Marquion, the local townspeople planted a tree next to the stone that represented the shepherd's crook that she had carried, and a local tradition concerning Saturnina and her tree still exists.
Some of her relics were transferred to
Saxony
Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...
from Sains-lès-Marquion. They were transferred to
Neuenheerse in
Bad Driburg, Saxony. The nuns there gathered many relics, including those of Saint Saturnina.
The Stiftskirche St. Saturnina ("Convent church of St. Saturnina") in Neuenheerse (Eggedom), Bad Driburg, was built from 1100 to 1130, but was heavily damaged in a fire due to lightning in 1965.
Writers compiling the lives of Saints
Romana and
Benedicta
Benedicta may refer to:
* Benedicta Henrietta of the Palatinate (1652–1730), a German princess
* Benedicta Ajudua (born 1980), Nigerian sprinter
* Benedicta Arts Center, a performing arts center
* Caterina Benedicta Grazianini (1685–1715), ...
copied Saturnina's legend, according to
Adrien Baillet
Adrien Baillet (13 June 164921 January 1706) was a French scholar and critic. He is now best known as a biographer of René Descartes.
Life
He was born in the village of La Neuville-en-Hez, Neuville near Beauvais, in Picardy. His parents could o ...
.
[Agnes Baillie Cunninghame, A'' Dictionary of Saintly Women'' (Bell, 1905), 216-7.]
References
External links
Amitié franco-allemande: Saturnine veille au grainSainte Saturnine, une tradition qui perdure
{{Authority control
German Roman Catholic saints
French Roman Catholic saints
Cephalophores
Executed German people