Saint Reparata

Infobox Saint
name= Saint Reparata
birth_date=
death_date=3rd century
feast_day= 8 October
venerated_in= Roman Catholic Church


imagesize= 150px
caption= Statue of Reparata. Andrea Pisano.
birth_place= Caesarea Maritima, Palestine
death_place=
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attributes= Standing alone or near the Madonna, bearing the crown and palm as martyr; dove; banner with red cross on white ground; sometimes with Saint Ansanus [Anna Jameson, "Sacred and Legendary Art" (Longman, Brown, Green, 1857), 648.]
patronage=Nice; Florence
major_shrine= Claimed by Nice Cathedral, to which relics were translated in 1690
suppressed_date=
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Saint Reparata ( _it. Santa Reparata, _fr. Sainte Réparate) was a third century Christian virgin and martyr, possibly mythical, of Caesarea in Palestine. Her legend states that she was an eleven year-old girl [Some sources say she was twelve, or twenty years-old. See http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=4586] who was arrested for her faith and tortured during the persecution of Decius. [ [http://saints.sqpn.com/saintr16.htm Patron Saints Index: Saint Reparata ] ]

She was tossed into a furnace but emerged unharmed. When she again refused to apostatize, she was beheaded. [ [http://saints.sqpn.com/saintr16.htm Patron Saints Index: Saint Reparata ] ] Her legend states that as she fell dead, her spirit emerged from her body in the form a dove. [Anna Jameson, "Sacred and Legendary Art" (Longman, Brown, Green, 1857), 648.] Later elaborations of her legend state that her body was laid in a boat and blown by the breath of angels to the bay now known as the Baie des Anges in Nice. A similar tale is associated with the legends of Saint Restituta; Saint Devota, patroness of Monaco and Corsica; and Saint Torpes, patron of Nice.

Veneration

Evidence of her cult does not exist before the ninth century, when her name appears in the martyrology of Bede. [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/73575 Santa Reparata di Cesarea di Palestina ] ] She is not mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea, who recorded the martyrdoms that took place in the Holy Land during the 3rd century. [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/73575 Santa Reparata di Cesarea di Palestina ] ]

Her cult became widespread in Europe during the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the multiple "Passiones" found in various parts of the continent -especially Italy, where her cult was particularly popular in Florence, Atri, Naples, and Chieti. [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/73575 Santa Reparata di Cesarea di Palestina ] ] Numerous painters created depictions of her, including Fra Bartolomeo, Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Pisano, Domenico Passignano, and Bernardo Daddi. [ [http://www.metmuseum.org/works_of_art/collection_database/european_paintings/Saint_Reparata_before_the_Emperor_Decius/viewObject.aspx?&OID=110000507&PgSz=1 The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York ] ] [ [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/73575 Santa Reparata di Cesarea di Palestina ] ]

She remained chief patroness of Florence until the High Middle Ages; Anna Jameson writes that “about 1298 she appears to have been deposed from her dignity as sole patroness; the city was placed under the immediate tutelage of the Virgin and St. John the Baptist.” [Anna Jameson, "Sacred and Legendary Art" (Longman, Brown, Green, 1857), 648.]

She is the patron saint of Nice and a co-patron saint of Florence (with Saint Zenobius). The former cathedral of Santa Reparata in Florence was dedicated to her. Sainte-Réparate Cathedral, in Nice, is also dedicated to her.

References

External links

* [http://saints.sqpn.com/saintr16.htm Reparata]
*It icon [http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/73575 Santa Reparata di Cesarea di Palestina]