Cote : Français 185 , Fol. 218. Vies de saints, France, Paris, XIVe siècle.
Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs, Sainte Pétronille et les infirmes.
Cote : Français 185 , Fol. 218. Vies de saints, France, Paris, XIVe siècle.
Sainte Pétronille
Martyre à Rome,
vierge (Ier siècle)
Perrine ou Pierrette.
Vierge et martyre romaine, appartenant à la branche chrétienne de la famille Flavia Domitilla à Rome par Titus Flavianus Petronius. Selon une tradition, elle aurait été baptisée par saint Pierre lui-même, ce qui n'est pas impossible. Dès lors elle fut considérée comme sa fille spirituelle.
Quand la France se fit 'la fille aînée de l'Église', elle adopta sainte Pétronille et en fit longtemps l'une de ses patronnes nationales. Beaucoup de jeunes françaises s'appelèrent alors Perrette, Pierrette, Perrine, Pernelle.
"En 757, à la demande de Pépin le Bref, le pape Paul 1er, fit transporter, en un mausolée contigu à la basilique Saint-Pierre, les restes de sainte Pétronille. Ils étaient jusque-là vénérés au cimetière de Domitille. Et le mausolée fut considéré comme une chapelle française. Le roi des Francs, en effet, venu au secours du pape Etienne II menacé par les Lombards, voulait se placer sous le patronage de saint Pierre, s’intéressant du même coup à celle qui passait pour sa fille, en raison d’une lecture étymologique erronée de son nom. Car, plutôt qu’à la famille du Prince des Apôtres, les recherches historiques actuelles et les rares indices archéologiques inviteraient à rattacher cette vierge martyre des premiers siècles à la famille impériale des Flaviens, avec peut-être même une ascendance gauloise. En tout cas, c’est à cette intervention pépinide que remonte l’attachement des rois de France à sainte Pétronille, considérée dès lors comme patronne de la France... Pétronille, Germain de Paris, et tous ces saints et bienheureux qui, de Blandine au père Hamel, ont marqué l’histoire de la sainteté française : vraiment nous ne manquons ni d’intercesseurs, ni d’exemples..." (Homélie de S.E.R. Mgr Joël Mercier, 2019)
À Rome, au cimetière de Domitille sur la voie Ardéatine, sainte Pétronille,
vierge et martyre.
Martyrologe romain
.jpg)
The Catacombs of St. Domitilla are the best preserved and one of the most extensive of all the catacombs. This catacomb is also unique in that it has a subterranean 4th century Basilica of St Nereus and St Achilleus. The two women in the fresco are Veneranda and Petronilla
Décor
de la tombe de Vénéranda, Scène de Vénéranda introduite au ciel par Sainte
Pétronille.
Catacombe
de Domitille, Rome
Ste Pétronille, vierge
Les itinéraires du VIIe
siècle pour les pèlerins mentionnent au cimetière de Domitille la tombe de
sainte Pétronille, ornée d’une fresque du Ive siècle où on lit : Petronella
Mart..
Au VIIIe siècle, Grégoire
III (731-741) ordonna de faire chaque année la station en la fête de sainte
Pétronille, mais il n’en donne pas la date.
On trouve mention du nom
de sainte Pétronille dans tous les martyrologes à partir du VIIIe siècle. La
fête se diffuse en France au XIe siècle mais à Rome, elle demeure localisée
dans la rotonde du Vatican où sa dépouille a été transférée en 757.
La fête sera introduite
au XIIe siècle.
Dom Guéranger, l’Année
Liturgique
L’Église n’accorde qu’un
souvenir à cette illustre vierge dans l’Office d’aujourd’hui ; mais nous ne
laisserons pas de lui rendre nos hommages. Au douze de ce mois nous avons fêté
la noble Flavia Domitilla, décorée de la double palme de la virginité et du
martyre ; Aurélia Pétronilla paraît avoir appartenu comme elle à la race
impériale des Flaviens. Les plus antiques traditions nous la recommandent comme
la fille spirituelle du Prince des Apôtres ; et si elle n’eut pas la fortune de
répandre son sang pour la foi du Christ comme Domitilla, elle offrit à l’Époux
divin l’hommage suprême de la virginité. De très anciens documents nous
apprennent qu’ayant été demandée en mariage par un patricien de Rome du nom de
Flaccus, elle réclama trois jours pour réfléchir à la proposition. Son refuge
fut auprès du Seigneur auquel elle s’était vouée ; et Flaccus s’étant présenté
le troisième jour, trouva le palais dans le deuil, avec tout l’appareil des
solennelles funérailles que l’on préparait pour la jeune vierge qui s’était
envolée comme la colombe aux approches de l’oiseleur.
Au VIIIe siècle, le pape
saint Paul Ier retira des Catacombes le corps de sainte Pétronille, qui
reposait au Cimetière de Domitilla, sur la voie Ardéatine. On le trouva
renfermé dans un sarcophage de marbre, dont le couvercle était orné de dauphins
aux quatre angles. Paul le déposa dans une petite église qu’il éleva près du
flanc méridional de la basilique vaticane.
La France a professé
longtemps une tendre vénération pour sainte Pétronille. Pépin le Bref fit
transporter à Rome sa fille Gisèle qui venait de naître, demandant qu’elle
reçût le baptême des mains du pape saint Paul Ier près du tombeau de la noble
vierge. L’église bâtie par ce pontife fut longtemps appelée la Chapelle des
rois de France. Louis XI la fit restaurer et la dota richement, et son fils
Charles VIII lui donna de nouvelles marques de sa munificence. Cette église, où
l’on remarquait de nombreuses sépultures françaises, fut détruite au XVIe
siècle par suite des dispositions que nécessitait la construction de la nouvelle
basilique de Saint-Pierre, et le corps de sainte Pétronille fut transféré sous
l’un des autels de la partie occidentale de ce temple auguste. Il ne convenait
pas que la dépouille mortelle de l’illustre vierge fût éloignée de la
Confession du Prince des Apôtres qui l’avait initiée à la foi, et préparée pour
les noces éternelles.
Nous associons votre
triomphe à nos joies pascales, ô fille de Pierre ! Nous vénérons à travers les
siècles votre mémoire bénie. Vous avez dédaigné le monde avec ses délices et
ses honneurs, et votre nom virginal se lit en tète des fastes de la sainte
Église Romaine qui s’honore d’avoir été votre mère. Aidez-la maintenant de vos
prières, et souvenez-vous aussi de la France, qui longtemps vous voua un culte
fervent. Protégez tous ceux qui vous implorent, et donnez-nous de célébrer avec
un saint enthousiasme les solennités qui se multiplient en ces jours.
Bhx Cardinal
Schuster, Liber Sacramentorum
Station dans la basilique
de Pétronille, au cimetière de Domitille.
Cette sainte vierge, sur
laquelle les Apocryphes ont amassé tant de ténèbres, quand ils ont voulu en
faire une fille de saint Pierre, reçoit seulement le titre de martyre dans une
peinture murale située derrière l’abside de son église cimitérale :
PETRO
NELLA
MART.
Tout porte à croire
l’indication exacte, et ainsi s’explique la grande vénération dont Pétronille
fut l’objet dans l’antiquité et au début du moyen âge, alors que le culte
liturgique était réservé aux seuls martyrs. Les Itinéraires nous indiquent
constamment sa tombe près de celle des martyrs Nérée et Achillée, et dans la
liste des Huiles des tombes de martyrs portées à Monza sous saint Grégoire Ier,
sainte Pétronille figure avec les mêmes martyrs locaux.
Pour expliquer que la
basilique du cimetière de Domitille ait été dédiée en commun à Nérée, Achillée
et Pétronille, De Rossi a mis en lumière un détail architectonique très
important de cet édifice. Sur le côté gauche, l’abside fut détournée
irrégulièrement, et sa courbe fut brisée par un cubiculum qu’on voulut à tout
prix conserver ; dans ce but on alla jusqu’à instituer une communication entre
l’hémicycle absidal et cette chapelle ornée de peintures. A quelques pas de là,
on voit le tombeau d’une femme nommée Veneranda, avec la peinture mentionnée
plus haut ; la défunte y est représentée au moment même où elle est introduite
dans le royaume céleste par Pétronille, sa patronne : Petronella Martyr. La
Sainte est représentée jeune, et de sa main gauche elle indique le coffret de
bronze contenant les volumes des saintes Écritures, comme pour résumer son
enseignement spirituel par le conseil d’observer ce que disent les saints
Livres.
Dans le cubiculum situé
entre la tombe de Veneranda et le tombeau des martyrs Nérée et Achillée dans
l’abside de la basilique, se trouvait donc le sépulcre de Pétronille, avec le
sarcophage de marbre sur lequel se lisait l’épigraphe qui a donné aux
Apocryphes l’idée de voir en elle la fille de l’apôtre Pierre :
AVRELIAE • PETRONILLAE •
FIL • DVLCISSIMAE •
Elle appartenait donc à
la famille romaine des Aurelii, apparentés aux Flaviens, et ce lien explique sa
sépulture en ce lieu.
Une stationem annuam in
coemeterio sanctae Petronillae est mentionnée dans la vie de Grégoire III qui
offrit un grand nombre d’objets précieux à ce sanctuaire, mais cela ne suffit
pas à le soustraire au sort commun d’abandon qui échut après un certain temps à
tous les cimetières romains. Aussi Paul Ier, en 755, transporta-t-il
solennellement le corps de la Sainte au Vatican, où il le déposa dans l’antique
mausoleum Augustorum de Valentinien II, qui devint dès lors l’église de
Sainte-Pétronille, sous le patronage des rois carolingiens. Sur cette dépouille
virginale, le Pape et l’Église romaine, sous la foi du serment, s’apparentèrent
spirituellement avec la famille de Pépin et avec la France, laquelle devint,
dès lors, comme Pétronille, la fille spirituelle de l’apôtre Pierre [1].
Dans la reconstruction de
la basilique vaticane, la rotonde de Sainte-Pétronille — qui se trouvait à peu près
là où s’élève maintenant à Saint-Pierre l’autel des Saints-Simon-et-Jude — fut
détruite, et les trésors impériaux trouvés dans les tombeaux de Théodore II,
d’Honorius, de Valentinien III et de l’impératrice Marie, furent envoyés à la
Monnaie. En 1574, le sarcophage primitif de sainte Pétronille fut brisé, pour
être employé comme matériel de construction, et les saintes reliques furent
transférées en 1606 sous le nouvel autel de la basilique vaticane, au-dessus
duquel on admire une magnifique mosaïque, copie de la célèbre peinture du
Guerchin, représentant les funérailles de sainte Pétronille [2].
L’antienne pour l’entrée
du célébrant est la même que pour la fête de la naissance de sainte Agnès le 28
janvier. La première collecte est identique à celle de sainte Pudentienne, le
19 mai. La lecture est tirée de l’Épître de saint Paul aux Corinthiens (I, VII,
25-34), où l’Apôtre trace les règles de la virginité chrétienne. Cette vertu,
dit-il, est si sublime, que Jésus n’en fait pas l’objet d’un précepte, mais
d’un simple conseil de perfection. Elle anticipe en quelque sorte ce
bienheureux état d’incorruption qui sera la prérogative de nos corps glorieux ;
car, en nous révélant la vanité et la brièveté du temps, elle nous permet de
nous consacrer entièrement, corps et âme, au service et à l’amour de Dieu.
La prudence dont il est
fait l’éloge dans le saint Évangile à propos des cinq vierges sages, équivaut à
la prévoyance. Être prudent signifie donc prévoir, c’est-à-dire voir, au delà
de l’apparence présente, ce qui n’est pas encore ; voir l’éternité durant le
temps. Dans quelle lumière l’âme virginale va-t-elle donc au delà des choses
présentes et voit-elle par avance le règne futur de Dieu ? C’est la tâche de la
foi, grâce à laquelle le juste vit ici-bas et agit pour là-haut, selon la
parole de l’Apôtre : Sancti per fidem vicerunt regna, operati sunt iustitiam,
adepti sunt retributionem.
L’antienne pour la
Communion du peuple est tirée du texte évangélique lu aujourd’hui (Matth.,
XIII, 45-46). Le royaume des cieux est semblable à un marchand qui recherchait
des perles de grande valeur ; quand il en eut enfin trouvé une très précieuse,
il donna tout son bien et l’acheta.
Le chrétien donne tout ce
qu’il possède, mais il n’obtient qu’une unique pierre précieuse : car Dieu est
un trésor de si immense valeur, qu’il ne souffre pas d’être joint dans le cœur
de l’homme à des biens créés.
[1] La France était déjà
la fille première-née de l’Église, du fait du baptême de Clovis et de son
peuple à Reims l’an 496. (N. du T.).
[2] Une lampe votive,
entretenue par une œuvre française, brûle tout le jour devant le tombeau de
sainte Pétronille (N. du T.).
Ploudaniel : statue de la fontaine près de la chapelle Sainte-Pétronille
Dom Pius Parsch, le Guide
dans l’année liturgique
Sainte Pétronille. — La
légende nous raconte à son sujet : « Elle était la fille du saint Apôtre
Pierre. Elle renonça au mariage avec un homme distingué, nommé Flaccus. On lui
donna trois jours pour réfléchir. Le troisième jour, après avoir reçu la sainte
communion, elle rendit son esprit » (Martyrologe). Son tombeau se trouvait dans
la catacombe de Priscille, près des saints Nérée et Achillée. En 755, son corps
fut transporté dans l’église Saint-Pierre.
SOURCE : http://www.introibo.fr/31-05-Ste-Petronille-vierge#nh1
SAINTE PÉTRONILLE *
Pétronille, dont saint
Marcel a écrit la vie, était la fille de l’apôtre saint Pierre. Elle était d'une
beauté extraordinaire et elle souffrait de la fièvre par la volonté de son
père; or, un jour que les disciples logeaient chez saint Pierre, Tite lui dit :
« Puisque vous guérissez tous les infirmes, pourquoi laissez-vous Pétronille
souffrante? » « C'est, répondit saint Pierre, que cela lui vaut mieux :
néanmoins, pour que l’on ne puisse pas conclure de mes paroles qu'il est
impossible de la guérir, il lui dit: « Lève-toi promptement, Pétronille, et
sers-nous. » Elle fut guérie aussitôt, se leva et les servit. Quand elle eut
fini de les servir saint Pierre lui dit : « Pétronille, retourne à ton lit. »
Elle y revint aussitôt et la fièvre la reprit comme auparavant : mais dès
qu'elle eut eu acquis la perfection dans l’amour de Dieu, il la guérit complètement.
Le comte Flaccus vint la trouver afin de la prendre pour femme à cause de sa
beauté. Pétronille lui dit donc : « Si tu désires m’avoir pour épouse, fais-moi
venir des vierges qui me conduisent jusqu'à ta maison. » Comme il s'en
occupait, Pétronille se livra au jeûne et. à la prière, reçut le corps du
Seigneur, se coucha et trois jours après elle rendit son âme à Dieu. Flaccus,
se voyant déçu, s'adressa à Félicula, compagne de Pétronille, et lui intima ou
de l’épouser ou de sacrifier aux idoles.
Comme elle refusait de
consentir à aucune de ces deux propositions, le préfet la fit mettre en prison
oie elle n'eut ni à manger ni à boire pendant sept jours ; après quoi il la fit
tourmenter sur le chevalet, la tua et jeta son corps dans un cloaque. Cependant
saint Nicodème l’en retira et lui donna la sépulture.
En conséquence, le comte
Flaccus fit appeler Nicodème et comme celui-ci refusait de sacrifier, il le
battit avec des cordes chargées de plomb. Son corps fut jeté dans le Tibre;
mais son clerc Juste l’en ôta et l’ensevelit avec honneur.
* Martyrologe d'Adon.
La Légende dorée de
Jacques de Voragine nouvellement traduite en français avec introduction,
notices, notes et recherches sur les sources par l'abbé J.-B. M. Roze, chanoine
honoraire de la Cathédrale d'Amiens, Édouard Rouveyre, éditeur, 76, rue de
Seine, 76, Paris mdcccci
SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/voragine/tome02/079.htm
Statue de Sainte Pétronille (XVIIIe), Église Saint-Ulrich, Wittersheim, Alsace (PA00085263, IA00061853).
Also
known as
Aurelia Petronilla
Pernelle
Peroline
Perrenotte
Perrette
Perrine
Perronelle
Petronella
Peyronne
Peyronnelle
Pierrette
Pérette
Périne
Pétronille
formerly 15 June
Profile
For centuries legend said
she was the daughter of Saint Peter,
and that she was so beautiful that he had locked her in a tower to keep her
from eligible men, but none of that is true. She may have been related to Peter,
a servant,
a co-worker, one of his converts,
his “spiritual daughter”, or the tradition may have started because of the
similarities of the names. May have been related to Saint Flavia
Domitilla of Terracina. Cured of
palsy by Saint Peter.
One story says she refused a marriage offer
by a pagan king named Flaccus;
when he pressed his case, she went on a hunger strike, and died three
days later. Old inscriptions, however, list her as a martyr in
the more common murdered-for-the-faith form.
Born
1st century Roman
citizen
relics in
Saint Peter’s cathedral, Rome, Italy
treaties
between Popes and Frankish emperors
–
being healed by Saint Peter
the Apostle
early Christian maiden
with a broom
lying dead but incorrupt in
her coffin with flowers in
her hair as the coffin is
opened during renovations
receiving the newly dead into
heaven
set of keys
spurning a marriage proposal,
represented by a ring, being
offered by a king
Additional
Information
A
Garner of Saints, by Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
uCatholic: Did Saint Peter Have a Daughter?
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
Martirologio Romano, 2005 edition
MLA
Citation
“Saint Petronilla of
Rome“. CatholicSaints.Info. 6 January 2022. Web. 1 June 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-petronilla/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-petronilla/
_Petronella_(circa_1725%2C_hout)_14-03-2021.jpg)
Museumkerk
Sint-Pieter (Rekem) Petronella (circa 1725, hout)
St. Petronilla
Feastday: May 31
Patron: of The
dauphins of France; mountain travellers; treaties between Popes and Frankish
emperors; invoked against fever
St. Petronilla is
believed to have been the daughter of St. Peter. Until the XVII Century, she
was called his physical daughter, and since then, she has been thought a
spiritual daughter who was consecrated to his service. Legends quoted in
Manichćan documents relate that Peter cured her of a palsy. Stories found in
the writings of St. Marcellus (and
retold in The Golden Legend) say that Peter, who thought his daughter too
beautiful, asked God to
afflict her with a fever, of which he refused to cure her until she began to be
perfected in the love of God. She is said to have refused Count Flaccus' hand
in marriage. Traditions say she died a natural death, but accounts of her
martyrdom can be found. Petronilla is thought to have been Aurelia Petronilla,
a scion of the gens Flavius, the family of Vespasian and
Domitian. She was also related to St. Domitilla, who was exiled in I Century to
Pandateria, whose property on
the Via Ardentina became a catacomb cemetary. Inscriptions there describe
Petronilla as a martyr. During the papacy of Siricius (384-399),
a basilica was
built on the site of her tomb. In the VIII Century, Gregory III established a
place of public prayer in
the basilica, and her relics were
translated to St. Peter's, where a chapel was
dedicated in her honor. Charlemagne (d.
814) and Carlomen (d. 771) were considered adopted sons of St. Peter, and they,
along with the French monarchs who succeeded them, considered Petronilla their
sister. Her chapel became
the chapel of
the kings of
France. Her emblem, like that of St. Peter, is a set of keys.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=1034
Sano di Pietro (1405–1481), Santa
Petronilla, affresco, Siena
Did Saint Peter Have a
Daughter?
By George Ryan June 29, 2017
Saint Peter was the
Prince of the Apostles and the first pope. Throughout the Bible, we see many
accounts of his relationship to Christ and his time spent as one the Twelve
Apostles. We also see the actions of Peter after the Ascension in setting up
the early Church in Jerusalem and beyond. However, little is known of Saint
Peters personal life other than him being a fisherman before meeting the
Lord. Did Saint Peter have a family and children?
A necessary requirement
to having a family and children is of course, having a spouse. Saint Peter
settled in the town of Capharnaum around the year 26-28. In the Gospel of
Matthew, Peter was living with his mother-in-law in Capharnaum, and thus was
married with a wife.
“Jesus entered the house
of Peter, and saw his mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever.” – Matthew 8:14
In addition to being
married, Clement of Alexandria wrote in the year 284 that had Peter had
children.
“Peter and Philip had
children, and Philip gave his daughters in marriage.” – Stromata, III, vi,
ed. Dindorf, II, 276″
Traditionally, Saint
Petronilla was identified as the biological daughter of Saint Peter. There is
some dispute among historians, however, concerning the validity of Petronilla
being the biological child of Peter. Some say this relation stems from the
similarity of their names, while others say she was converted to Catholicism by
Saint Peter and thus was a “spiritual daughter.” It is said that Peter had
cured her of a palsy. Stories of her tell that she was so beautiful she lived
in a tower to keep suitors at bay, and that a Pagan King Count Flaccus wanting
to marry her led her to go on a hunger strike from which she died.
After her death, she was
buried in the Via Ardeatina near Saints Nereus and Achilleus. Her
burial location was confirmed by excavations of the catacombs near Domitilla.
Today, Saint Petronilla’s feast is celebrated May 31st. She is the patron saint
of The Dauphins of France, mountain travelers, treaties between Popes and
Frankish emperors, and she is also invoked against fever.
SOURCE : https://ucatholic.com/blog/did-saint-peter-have-a-daughter/
Hl.
Petronilla, Beginn der Passio ss. Petronillae et Feliculae im Weißenauer
Passionale; Fondation Bodmer, Coligny; Cod. Bodmer 127, fol. 65r
Illumination
from the Passionary of Weissenau (Weißenauer Passionale); Fondation
Bodmer, Coligny, Switzerland; Cod. Bodmer 127, fol. 65r, between 1170 and 1200,
http://www.e-codices.unifr.ch/en/list/one/cb/0127
St. Petronilla
Virgin,
probably martyred at Rome at
the end of the first century.
Almost all the sixth- and
seventh-century lists of the tombs of
the most highly venerated Roman martyrs mention St.
Petronilla's grave as situated in the Via Ardeatina near
Sts. Nereus and Achilleus (De
Rossi, "Roma sotterranea", I, 180-1). These notices have been
completely confirmed by the excavations in the Catacomb of Domitilla.
One topography of the graves of the Roman martyrs,
"Epitome libri de locis sanctorum martyrum", locates on the Via
Ardeatina a church of St. Petronilla, in which
Sts. Nereus and Achilleus, as well as Petronilla,
were buried (De
Rossi, loc. cit., 180). This church, built into the
above-mentioned catacomb,
has been discovered, and the memorials found in it removed all doubt that
the tombs of
the three saints were
once venerated there
(De Rossi in "Bullettino di archeol. crist.", 1874 sq., 5 sqq.).
A painting,
in which Petronilla is represented as receiving a deceased person (named
Veneranda) into heaven,
was discovered on the closing stone of a tomb in
an underground crypt behind
the apse of
the basilica (Wilpert, "Die Malereien der Katakomben Roms",
Freiburg, 1903, plate 213; De
Rossi, ibid., 1875, 5 sqq.). Beside the saint's picture
is her name: Petronilla Mart. (yr). That the painting was
done shortly after 356, is proved by
an inscription found in the tomb.
It is thus clearly established that Petronilla was venerated at Rome as
a martyr in
the fourth century, and the testimony must be accepted
as certainly historical, notwithstanding the
later legend which recognizes her only as a virgin (see
below). Another known, but unfortunately no longer extant, memorial was
the marble sacrophagus which contained her remains, under Paul
I translated to St. Peter's. In the account of this in the "Liber
Pontificalis" (ed. Duchesne, I, 466)
the inscription carved on the sacrophagus is given thus: Aureae
Petronillae Filiae Dulcissimae (of the golden Petronilla, the
sweetest daughter). We learn, however, from extant sixteenth-century notices concerning
this sacrophagus that the first word was Aur. (Aureliae), so that
the martyr's name
was Aurelia Petronilla. The second name comes from Petro or Petronius,
and, as the name of the great-grandfather of the Christian consul, Flavius Clemens,
was Titus Flavius Petronius, it is very possible that Petronilla
was a relative of the Christian Flavii,
who were descended from the senatorial family of
the Aurelii. This theory would also explain why Petronilla
was buried in the catacomb of
the Flavian
Domitilla. Like the latter, Petronilla may have suffered during the persecution of Domitian,
perhaps not till later.
In the
fourth-century Roman catalogue of martyrs' feasts,
which is used in the "Martyrologium Hieronymianum", her name seems
not to have been inserted. It occurs in the latter martyrology (De
Rossi-Duschesne, "Martyrol. Hieronym.", 69), but only as a later
addition. Her name is given under 31 May and the Martyrologies of Bede and
his imitators adopt the same date (Quentin,
"Les martyrologes historiques", Paris, 1908, 51, 363, etc.). The
absence of her name from the
fourth-century Roman calendar of feasts suggests that
Petronilla died at the end of the first or during the second century, since no
special feasts for martyrs were
celebrated during this period. After the erection of
the basilica over her remains and those of
Sts. Nereus and Achilleus in the fourth century, her cult
extended widely and her name was therefore admitted later into the martyrology.
A legend, the existence of which in the sixth century is proved by
its presence in the list of the tombs of
the Roman martyrs prepared
by Abbot John at the end of this century (De
Rossi, "Roma sotterranea", I, 180), regards Petronilla as a real
daughter of St.
Peter. In the Gnostic apocryphal Acts of St.
Peter, dating from the second century, a daughter of St. Peter is
mentioned, although her name is not given (Schmid, "Ein vorirenöische
gnostisches Originalwerk in koptischer Sprache" in "Sitzungsber.
der Berliner Akademie", 1896, 839 sqq.; Lipsius,
"Die apokryphen Apostelgeschichten u. Apostellegenden",
II, i, Brunswick,
1887, 203 sqq.). The legend being widely propagated by these apocryphal Acts,
Petronilla was identified at Rome with
this supposed daughter of St. Peter, probably because of her name and the
great antiquity of her tomb.
As such, but now as a virgin, not as a martyr,
she appears in the legendary Acts
of the martyrs St. Nereus and Achilleus and in the "Liber
Pontificalis" (loc. cit.). From this legend of
Sts. Nereus and Achilleus a similar notice was admitted
into the historical martyrologies of
the Middle
Ages and thence into the modern Roman Martyrology. In 757
the coffin containing the mortal remains of the saint was
transferred to an old circular building (an imperial mausoleum dating from
the end of the fourth century) near St. Peter's. This building was altered
and became the Chapel of St. Petronilla (De
Rossi, "Inscriptiones christianae urbis Romae", II, 225).
The saint subsequently appears as the special patroness of the
treaties concluded between the popes and
the Frankish emperors.
At the rebuilding of St. Peter's in the sixteenth century, St.
Petronilla's remains were translated to
an altar (still dedicated to her) in the upper end of
the right side-aisle (near the cupola). Her feast falls
on 31 May.
Sources
DE ROSSI, Sepolcro di S.
Petronilla nella basilica in via Ardeatina e sua translazione al Vaticano
in Bullettino di arch. crist. (1878), 125 sq. (1879), 5 sq.; DUMAZ,
La France et sainte Pétronille in Annales de St. Louis des François (1899),
517 sq.; URBAIN, Ein Martyrologium der christl. Gemeinde zu Rom (Leipzig,
1901), 152; DUFOURCQ, Les Gesta Martyrum romains, I (Paris, 1900) 251 sq.
Kirsch, Johann
Peter. "St. Petronilla." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
11. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 11 May
2015 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11781b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Alphonsus Maria Arata Nunobe. Dedicated
to Maria Petronilla Kurenai Nunobe.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. February 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11781b.htm
Santino
raffigurante santa Petronilla (data ignota, probabilmente fra il 1850 e
l'inizio del 1900)
Holy
card depicting saint Petronilla (unknown date, probably between 1850 and early
1900)
Petronilla of Rome VM
(RM)
1st (?) or 3rd century.
In the cemetery of Domitilla, Rome, is a fresco dating from the 4th century
that shows Saint Petronilla about to be put to death. A member of the Domitilla
family, she was killed because she had refused to marry a nobleman named
Flaccus, preferring to devote herself totally to her Savior. She has been
venerated from the earliest times.
Among the legends
connected with Petronilla is the notion--no doubt derived partly from her
name--that she was the daughter of Saint Peter or that she ministered to him.
While this was included in several 6th-century Gnostic apocrypha, most scholars
do not accept this. It is certain, however, that around the middle of the 3rd
century a young virgin of this name was martyred because of her faith. In some
of the stories, her intended groom wanted her killed but she died after fasting
three days.
In the 8th century, her
tomb was translated to Saint Peter's Basilica, where her chapel became the
burial place for French kings. Because Blessed Charlemagne and Carloman were
considered Saint Peter's adopted sons, his supposed daughter became their
patroness. The chapel includes embellishments by Michelangelo and Bramante.
Mass on this day in St. Peter's is offered for France and attended by French
residents of Rome (Benedictines, Bentley, Delaney, Farmer).
In art, Saint Petronilla
is an early Christian maiden with a broom. She might also be shown (1) with a
dolphin; (2) as her grave is opened and her body is found with flowers in her
hair; (3) in the company of Saint Peter; or (4) spurning a king who offers a
marriage ring (Roeder). Farmer notes that her usual emblem in English late
medieval stained glass and painted screens is a set of keys--borrowed, of
course, from her father, Saint Peter.
Petronilla is the
patroness of mountain travellers and the dauphins of France, by reason of the
dolphin which was reputedly found carved on her sarcophagus (Roeder).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0531.shtml
_schrijn_Petronella_10-03-2021_11-01-17.jpg)
Article
(Saint) Virgin (May 31)
(1st
century) A Roman virgin, converted to Christianity by
the Apostle Saint Peter,
and who afterwards ministered to him until her death at
an early age. The name Petronilla (a diminutive of Petronia) from its
similarity with the derivatives from Peter (Petrus), probably led to the belief
that she was Saint Peter‘s
daughter, whereas she was only his spiritual or adopted child.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Petronilla”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
21 October 2016. Web. 2 June 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-petronilla/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-petronilla/
_Petronella_10-03-2021_10-28-28.jpg)
Sint-Pieterskerk
(Rekem) Petronella
St. Petronilla, Virgin
AMONG the disciples of
the apostles in the primitive age of saints, this holy virgin shone as a bright
star in the church. She lived when Christians were more solicitous to live well
than to write much: they knew how to die for Christ; but did not compile long
books or disputations, 1 in
which vanity has often a greater share than charity. Hence no particular
account of her actions hath been transmitted down to us. But how eminent her
sanctity was we may judge from the lustre by which it was distinguished among
the apostles, prophets, and martyrs. Her name is the feminine and diminutive of
Peter, and she is said to have been a daughter of the apostle St. Peter, which
tradition is confirmed by certain writings quoted by the Manichees in the time
of St. Austin, 2 which
affirm that St. Peter had a daughter whom he cured of a palsy. That St. Peter
was married before his vocation to the apostleship we learn from the gospel;
though St. Jerom and other ancient fathers testify that he lived in continency
after his call. St. Clement of Alexandria assures us, 3 that
his wife attained to the glory of martyrdom; at which that apostle himself
encouraged her, bidding her to remember our Lord. But it seems not certain
whether St. Petronilla was more than the spiritual daughter of that apostle.
She flourished at Rome, and was buried on the way to Ardea, where anciently a
cemetery and a church bore her name; so famous that in it a station or place
for the assembly of the city in public prayer, was established by Gregory III.
She is commemorated in the true Martyrology of Bede, in those which bear the
name of St. Jerom, &c.
The saints, whether in
sickness or in health, in public or in private life, devoted all their thoughts
and actions to God, and thus sanctified all their employments. The great end
for which they lived was always present to their minds, and they thought every
moment lost in which they did not make some advances towards eternal bliss. How
will their example condemn at the last day the trifling fooleries, and the
greater part of the conversation and employments of the world, which aim at
nothing but present amusements, as if it were the business of a rational
creature to divert his mind from thought and reflection, and forget the only
affair—the business of eternity.
Note 1. Sciebant
mori, non sciebant disputare. St. Cypr. [back]
Note 2. St. Aug. l.
Contra Adimant. c. 17. [back]
Note 3. Strom. l. 7,
p. 736. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume V: May. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/5/311.html
_schrijn_Petronella_10-03-2021_10-46-20.jpg)
Sint-Pieterskerk
(Rekem) schrijn Petronella
Golden Legend
– Life of Saint Pernelle
Here followeth the Life
of Saint Pernelle, and first the interpretation of her name.
Petronilla is said of
petens, that is demanding, and of tronus, that is a throne or a seat, as who
saith she was demanding the throne or seat of virgins.
Of Saint Pernelle.
Saint Pernelle, whose
life Saint Marcel writeth, was daughter of Saint Peter the apostle, which was
right fair and beauteous, and by the will of her father she was vexed with the
fevers and axes. It happed on a time that the disciples dined with Saint Peter,
and one, Titus, said to him: Peter, how is it that all sick people be healed of
thee and thou sufferest Pernelle, thy daughter, to lie sick? To whom Saint
Peter said: For it is expedient to her to be sick; nevertheless because it
shall not be imputed impossibility of her health for to be excused by my words,
he said to her: Arise, Pernelle, hastily, and serve us; which anon arose all
whole and ministered and served them. And when the service was all done and
complished, Peter said to her: Pernelle, go again to thy bed; who anon went
again to her bed, and the fevers vexed her as they did tofore, and whereas she
began to be perfect in the love of God so he healed her perfectly. Then was
there an earl called Flaccus which came to her, and for her beauty would have
her unto his wife. To whom she answered: If thou desirest me to have unto thy
wife, command thou certain virgins to come to me for to accompany me unto thine
house. And whiles he was busy to make ready the said maidens, Saint Pernelle
set herself in fastings and prayers, and received the holy body of our Lord and
reclined in to her bed, and after the third day she died, and she passed out of
this world rendering her soul unto our Lord. Then Flaccus, seeing himself
disappointed and mocked, turned himself unto Felicula, fellow of Saint
Pernelle, and said that she should wed him or offer unto the idols, which both
two she refused.
Then the prefect set her
in prison and there kept her seven days and seven nights without an meat and
drink, and after he did do hang her body on a gibbet, and there slew her and
threw her body into a foul privy, which holy Nicodemus took up and buried.
Wherefore Nicodemus was called of Flaccus, and because he would not sacrifice
to the idols he was beaten with plummets and his body cast into the Tiber, but
it was taken up of Justin his clerk and honorably buried.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/golden-legend-life-of-saint-pernelle/
Simone Pignoni (1611–1698). Communion of Saint Petronilla, 141 x 114, Hermitage (Sint-Petersburg). According to one version of the legend of her life, Saint Petronilla was the daughter of the Apostle Peter, according to another a member of the Flavius family of Rome, who was baptised by Peter and given his name. Refusing to marry the patrician Flaccus, after three days of fasting and prayer she died. Petronilla was buried in the cemetery of Domitilla and in 755, on the orders of Pope Paul I, her remains were transferred to a chapel near St Peter's Cathedral. This chapel was then given to the French King Pippinus Brevis, since when Saint Petronilla has been considered to be patroness of France. Pignoni shows the moment when Petronilla, just before her death, is given last communion by the priest Nicomedes, a pupil of St Peter. The girl's pale face with its shadows around the eyes seems to be almost translucent, while the blue ray which pierces the clouds floods her figure with a cold light. (SOURCE : https://www.hermitagemuseum.org/wps/portal/hermitage/digital-collection/01.+Paintings/31952
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Petronilla, Virgin
Article
Among the disciples of
the apostles in the primitive age of saints, this holy virgin shone as a bright
star in the Church. She lived when Christians were more solicitous to live well
than to write much: they knew how to die for Christ; but did not compile long
books in which vanity has often a greater share than charity. Hence no
particular account of her actions had been handed down to us. But how eminent
her sanctity was we may judge from the lustre by which it was distinguished
among apostles, prophets, and martyrs. She is said to have been a daughter of
the apostle Saint Peter; that Saint Peter was married before his vocation to
the apostleship we learn from the gospel. Saint Clement of Alexandria assures
us that his wife attained to the glory of martyrdom; at which Peter himself
encouraged her, bidding her to remember Our Lord. But it seems not certain
whether Saint Petronilla was more than the spiritual daughter of that apostle.
She flourished at Rome, and was buried on the way to Ardea, where in ancient
times a cemetery and a church bore her name.
Reflection – With the
saints the great end for which they lived was always present to their minds,
and they thought every moment lost in which they did not make some advances
toward eternal bliss. How will their example condemn at the last day the
trifling fooleries, and the greatest part of the conversation and employments
of the world, which aim at nothing but present amusements, and forget the only
important affair—the business of eternity.
MLA
Citation
John Dawson Gilmary Shea.
“Saint Petronilla, Virgin”. Pictorial Lives of the
Saints, 1889. CatholicSaints.Info.
30 March 2014. Web. 2 June 2023. <https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-petronilla-virgin/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-petronilla-virgin/
Burial of Saint Petronilla. Engraving by J. Frey, 1731, after G.F. Barbieri, il Guercino.
A Garner of
Saints – Saint Petronilla
Article
Daughter of the
apostle Peter.
On one occasion, while the disciples were staying with him, she lay sick of a
fever. The emperor Titus thereupon said to the apostle, why do you allow her to
suffer when you heal all the sick? Peter replied that it was better so, but in
order to prove that he was not powerless to heal her, he directed her to wait
on them. And immediately she felt herself healed and arose and waited on them.
After she had finished, Peter told her to retum to bed, and she was taken with
the fever as before, but when she had acquired in perfection the love of God
she was perfectly healed. A lord named Flaccus, being struck by her beauty,
desired to marry her. And she directed him to send the virgins who were to lead
her to him to find her. Meanwhile Petronilla devoted herself to fasting and
prayer, receiving the sacrament, and on the third day she rendered her soul to
God. Flaccus, seeing that he had been deceived, turned to Felicola,
Petronilla’s companion, ordering her to marry him or else sacrifice to idols.
When she refused, she was imprisoned for eight days without food or drink.
After that she was tortured on the rack and so died, her body being cast into a
sewer. But Saint Nicodemus came and buried it, for which he was beaten to death
and thrown into the Tiber, though a priest found the body and buried it. 31st
May.
Attributes
Broom; receiving the
sacrament.
MLA
Citation
Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.
“Saint Petronilla”. A Garner of Saints, 1900. CatholicSaints.Info.
25 April 2017. Web. 2 June 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/a-garner-of-saints-saint-petronilla/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/a-garner-of-saints-saint-petronilla/
Guercino, Seppellimento e gloria di Santa Petronilla (Funérailles et Apothéose
de Sainte Pétronilla),
1621-22.
Roma, Musei Capitolini.
Santa Petronilla Martire
Anche per santa
Petronilla, come per molti santi dei primi secoli, nonostante abbia avuto un
culto così diffuso, abbiamo scarse notizie. Quello che è certo che era
sepolta nel cimitero di Domitilla nei pressi o nell'ambito della Basilica
sotterranea delle catacombe: le fonti archeologiche indicano la più antica
testimonianza in un affresco del IV secolo tuttora esistente in un cubicolo
dietro l'abside della basilica sotterranea, costruita da papa Siricio tra il
390 e il 395, che raffigura Veneranda introdotta in paradiso, tenuta per mano
da una fanciulla al cui fianco è scritto «Petronella Mart(yr)». Secondo la
«Passio» dei santi Nereo ed Achilleo composta nel VI secolo Petronilla sarebbe
stata figlia di san Pietro e sarebbe morta naturalmente, quindi non martire
come invece è segnalato nell'affresco. Il corpo di Petronilla sarebbe rimasto
nel cimitero di Domitilla a Roma, fino al 757 quando papa Paolo I lo trasportò
insieme al sarcofago che lo conteneva, nella basilica vaticana. (Avvenire)
Etimologia: Petronilla =
di luogo petroso, dal latino
Emblema: Chiavi, Palma
Martirologio Romano: A
Roma nel cimitero di Domitilla sulla via Ardeatina, santa Petronilla, vergine e
martire.
Come per tanti santi della prima era cristiana, anche in questo caso vi sono notizie discordanti sulla ‘Vita’.
Anche per s. Petronilla nonostante che abbia avuto un culto così diffuso, abbiamo notizie dubbiose sulla sua esistenza. Quello che è certo che era sepolta nel cimitero di Domitilla nei pressi o nell’ambito della Basilica sotterranea delle catacombe, le fonti archeologiche indicano la più antica testimonianza in un affresco del IV secolo tuttora esistente in un cubicolo dietro l’abside della basilica sotterranea, costruita da papa Siricio tra il 390 e il 395, che raffigura Veneranda introdotta in un paradiso fiorito di rose, tenuta per mano da una fanciulla col capo coperto e al cui fianco è scritto “Petronella Mart(yr)”.
D’altra parte abbiamo le notizie tratte dalla ‘Passio’ dei santi Nereo ed Achilleo composta nel V-VI sec. ma di poco valore storico, che afferma che Petronilla sarebbe figlia di s. Pietro e sarebbe morta naturalmente dopo aver ricevuto la Comunione dalle mani del presbitero Nicomede, quindi non martire come invece è segnalato nell’affresco, comunque nel narrare la vita dei santi Nereo ed Achilleo l’agiografo del V sec. dice che dopo morti furono sepolti nel cimitero di Domitilla presso il sepolcro di Petronilla, questo concorda con le fonti archeologiche.
L’attribuzione di figlia di s. Pietro che comunque nei secoli è rimasta tale, deve essere scaturita dalla somiglianza dei nomi Pietro e Petronilla. Il suo corpo sarebbe rimasto nel cimitero di Domitilla sulla via Ardeatina a Roma, fino al 757 quando papa Paolo I adempiendo una promessa del suo predecessore Stefano II lo trasportò insieme al sarcofago che lo conteneva, nella basilica vaticana.
Carlo Magno nell’anno 800 visitò e venerò la cappella a lei dedicata con grande partecipazione di soldati e popolo. Grande venerazione e devozione le ha da sempre tributato la Francia che l’ha eletta sua principale patrona e protettrice perché come Petronilla è considerata figlia di s. Pietro, così la Francia è la figlia primogenita della Chiesa romana e quindi di Pietro.
E’ stata raffigurata ed onorata da artisti insigni in tutti i secoli; nella Basilica Vaticana un mosaico è al disopra dell’altare di una cappella che le competeva quale patrona di Francia nella più grande chiesa della cristianità.
Siena ebbe particolare devozione per lei, la quale è raffigurata in una predella di Sano di Pietro, intenta a servire a tavola il padre e in un altro quadro s. Pietro è intento a curarla dalla paralisi.
Il nome Petronilla deriva da Petronio che a sua volta deriva dal latino della gens Petronia che significa “proveniente da una località pietrosa”, il diminutivo è Nilla. – Festa il 31 maggio.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
