| Saint Regina | |
|---|---|
Statue of St. Regina at church dedicated to her at Drensteinfurt. |
|
| Born | Autun, France |
| Died | Alesia, France |
| Honored in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Feast | September 7 |
| Attributes | depicted as experiencing the torments of martyrdom, or as receiving spiritual consolation in prison by a vision of a dove on a luminous cross. |
| Patronage | against poverty, impoverishment, shepherdesses, torture victims[1] |
Saint Regina (Regnia, French: Sainte Reine) (3rd century) was a virgin martyr and saint of the Catholic Church. Regina was born in Autun, France, to a pagan named Clement. Her mother died at her birth and her father repudiated her. She then went to live with a Christian nurse who baptized her. Regina helped out by tending the sheep. She communed with God in prayer and meditated on the lives of the saints. She was betrothed to the proconsul Olybrius, but refused to renounce her faith to marry him, for which she was tortured and was beheaded at Alesia in the diocese of Autun, called Alise-Sainte-Reine after her.
Her martyrdom is considered to have occurred either during the persecution of Decius, in 251, or under Maximian in 286.
Honored in many Martyrologies, Regina's feast is celebrated on 7 September or in the Archdiocese of Paderborn on 20 June. In the past, a procession was held in her honor in the town of Dijon. However, her relics were transferred to Flavigny Abbey in 827. The history of the translation of Regina was the subject of a 9th century account.
There are many places in France named Sainte-Reine after her.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1907 edition of The Nuttall Encyclopædia.