Wednesday of the First Week of Lent

Flavia Valeria Constantina was born in the early fourth century, sometime before the mid-320s, into the imperial household of Rome as the eldest daughter of Emperor Constantine the Great and Empress Fausta. Married first to her cousin Hannibalianus, she was widowed amid the violent purges that followed her father’s death. In the political turmoil of the empire, she later married Constantius Gallus, appointed Caesar in the East, and traveled with him to Antioch, where she lived far from Rome. When Gallus fell under suspicion, Constantina set out to meet her brother, Emperor Constantius II, hoping to soften his judgment and protect her household. On the journey she died suddenly of a fever in 354 at Caeni Gallicani in Bithynia. Her body was returned to Rome and laid to rest in the mausoleum begun for her near the Via Nomentana, later known as Santa Costanza, a place that helped foster her veneration. Medieval tradition also links her to prayers at the tomb of Saint Agnes and a life turned toward faith and charity. She is honored as patron of Mary Undoer of Knots Parish in Chicago. Her feast day is February 25.

Saint Gerland of Agrigento was born in Besançon in France, and later came to be linked by family ties to the Norman ruler Roger I of Sicily. In the years following the expulsion of the Saracens from Sicily, Roger summoned Gerland to the island in 1088 (or 1093) and entrusted him with a delicate, hope-filled mission: to become the first bishop of Agrigento in the renewed Christian era and to help restore the life of the Church across the region. As shepherd of a people emerging from upheaval, Gerland is remembered for re-establishing ecclesial order and strengthening the faith of the local communities, laying foundations that would endure long after his death. He died on February 25, 1100, and devotion to him continued to grow until his canonization in 1159. His relics are kept with honor in a silver urn in Agrigento Cathedral, long dedicated to him. Saint Gerland is venerated as patron of Agrigento and Porto Empedocle. His feast day is February 25.

Saint Reginos, born in the early centuries of the Church (his birthplace is not known), is lovingly honored as the patron saint of the island of Skopelos in Greece. Christian tradition remembers him as a bishop and faithful shepherd of Christ’s flock during a time of persecution. In the year 362, he is said to have endured severe torture and to have given his life rather than deny the Lord, sealing his witness with martyrdom. For this steadfast courage and pastoral devotion, the people of Skopelos have long venerated him, turning to his intercession in their needs and celebrating him as a protector of their island and its families. His memory remains especially close through his relics: some are kept on Skopelos, while most are preserved in the Church of Archangel Michael Trypiotis in Nicosia, Cyprus. On Skopelos, a monastery bearing his name continues to keep his devotion alive. Saint Reginos is commemorated each year on February 25.

Saint Walpurga was born around 710 in Dumnonia, in the region of modern Devon, England, into a deeply Christian family. As a girl she was entrusted to the abbess of Wimborne Abbey in Dorset, where she spent many years in prayer, learning, and the careful work of a monastery community. When her uncle, Saint Boniface, called for helpers in the evangelization of the German lands, Walpurga crossed the sea to serve alongside her brothers, Saints Willibald and Winibald, in the Frankish Empire. She became a nun at Heidenheim, a double monastery founded by Willibald, and after his death in 751 she succeeded him as abbess, later also overseeing the community connected with Winibald. Walpurga’s steady leadership helped strengthen the Church among newly converted peoples. After her death on February 25, 777 or 779, devotion grew, especially at Eichstätt, where her relics were translated and where an oil associated with her shrine was long sought for healing. She is invoked in storms and by sailors, and is patron of Martell. Her feast day is February 25.