Constantina

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.