- Balbina
Infobox Saint
name=Saint Balbina
birth_date=unknown
death_date=c. 130
feast_day=March 31
venerated_in=Roman Catholic Church
imagesize=200px
caption=Saint Balbina andSaint Quirinus of Neuss , from an 18th century print
birth_place=
death_place=
titles=
beatified_date=
beatified_place=
beatified_by=
canonized_date=
canonized_place=
canonized_by=
attributes=chains; fetters
patronage=struma, scrofulous diseases
major_shrine=Santa Balbina
suppressed_date=
issues=
prayer=
prayer_attrib=Memorials of St. Balbina (d. c. 130 AD) are to be found at
Rome in three different spots which are connected with the early Christian antiquities of that city. In the purely legendary account of the martyrdom of St. Alexander (acta SS., Maii, I, 367 sqq.) mention is made of a tribune Quirinus who died amartyr and was buried in the catacomb of Praetextatus on theVia Appia . His grace was regarded with great veneration and is referred to in the old itineraries (guides for pilgrims) of the Romancatacombs . Tradition said that his daughter Balbina, who had been baptized by St. Alexander and who had passed her life unmarried, was buried after death near her father in the same catacomb. The feast of St. Balbina is celebrated31 March .Usuardus speaks of her in his martyrology; his account of St. Balbina rests on the record of the martyrdom of St. Alexander.Some of her
relics were brought toCologne Cathedral during theMiddle Ages .2) There is another Balbina whose name was given to a catacomb ("coem. Balbinae") which lay between the Via Appia and the
Via Ardeatina not far from the little church called Domine quo vadis. Over this cemetery abasilica was erected in the fourth century byPope Mark . There still exists on the little Aventine in the city itself the old title of St. Balbina, first mentioned in anepitaph of the sixth century and in the signatures to a Roman council (595) of the time ofPope Gregory I . This church,Santa Balbina , was erected in a large ancient hall. Its titular saint is supposed to be identical with the St. Balbina who was buried in the catacomb of Praetextatus and whose bones together with those of her father were brought here at a later date. It is not certain, however, that the two names refer to the same person.External links
* [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02216a.htm St. Balbina] at the
Catholic Encyclopedia
* [http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintb54.htm Patron Saints Index: Balbina]
*cs icon [http://www.abcsvatych.com/mesice/3/brezen31.htm Blahoslavená Balbína]
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