Pudentiana

Saint Pudentiana was born in Rome in the early centuries of the Church, remembered in tradition as the daughter of Saint Pudens, a friend of the Apostles, and the sister of Saint Praxedes. As a young Christian virgin, she is honored for her steadfast love of Christ amid a culture that demanded worship of the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Antoninus Pius as gods. Ancient accounts tell that, together with Praxedes and Pope Pius I, she helped establish a baptistry in the church within her father’s house, welcoming converts and assisting in the baptism of pagans who sought the light of the Gospel. Pudentiana is said to have died at only sixteen years of age, revered as a martyr or faithful witness, and was buried near her father in the Catacombs of Priscilla along the Via Salaria. Her name lives on in Rome’s Basilica of Santa Pudenziana and in local devotion, including her patronage of Gerenzago. Her feast day is May 19.