Saint of the Day

June 13: Saint Felicula of Rome

Catholics living in the city of Rome were persecuted sporadically but brutally for the first few centuries of the Church’s existence.

Saint Felicula was living as a consecrated virgin—an early form of religious life for women—when the Roman empire renewed its persecution of Christians. She was arrested, thrown into prison, starved for two weeks, and then left to die in a ditch. The priest Nicomedes risked his life to give the bodies of many Christians a proper burial, including Felicula’s. We aren’t certain of the year of Felicula’s death, but it is generally believed that Nicomedes was later martyred for his practice of the corporal works of mercy, dying in the year 71.

Saint Felicula, show me how to accept mistreatment with Christ’s peace.