Saints Faustinus and Jovita

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This article is about the saint. For the Roman usurper, see Jovinus.

Saints Faustinus and Jovinus (or Jovita), brothers, were said to be a Christian martyr under Hadrian.

[edit] Traditional vita

They were held to be members of a noble family of Brescia in Lombardy (northern Italy); the elder brother, Faustinus, the younger, Jovinus, a deacon. For their fearless preaching of the Gospel, they were arraigned before the Roman Emperor Hadrian, who at Brescia, Rome and Naples, subjected them to frightful torments, after which they were beheaded at Brescia in the year 120, according to the Bollandists, though Allard (Histoire des Persécutions pendant les Deux Premiers Siècles, Paris, 1885) places the date as early as 118.

[edit] Doubts and veneration

The many "Acts" of these saints are chiefly of a legendary character. Fedele Savio, S.J., questioned nearly every fact related of them except their existence and martyrdom, which are too well attested by their inclusion in so many of the early martyrologies and their extraordinary cult in their native city, of which from time immemorial they have been the chief patrons.

Their common feast day was 15 February, the traditional date of their martyrdom. However their cult has been suppressed since the saints' existence seems unproven, perhaps merely legend. Rome, Bologna and Verona share with Brescia the possession of their relics.