vendredi 31 mai 2013

Sainte PÉTRONILLE de ROME, vierge et martyre


Richard de Montbaston et collaborateurs, Sainte Pétronille et les infirmes.

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)

La France au Vatican

À Rome, au cimetière de Domitille sur la voie Ardéatine, sainte Pétronille, vierge et martyre.

Martyrologe romain


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


Ploudaniel : Chapelle Sainte-Pétronille, statue de sainte Pétronille


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).


Saint Petronilla of Rome

Also known as

Aurelia Petronilla

Pernelle

Peroline

Perrenotte

Perrette

Perrine

Perronelle

Petronella

Peyronne

Peyronnelle

Pierrette

Pérette

Périne

Pétronille

Memorial

31 May

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 TerracinaCured 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

Died

1st century

relics in Saint Peter’s cathedralRomeItaly

Patronage

against fever

dauphins of France

mountain travellers

treaties between Popes and Frankish emperors

AccianoItaly

Representation

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

standing with Saint Peter

woman holding a set of keys

woman with a dolphin

Additional Information

A Garner of Saints, by Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.

Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate

Catholic Encyclopedia

Golden Legend

Lives of the Saints, by Father Alban Butler

New Catholic Dictionary

Pictorial Lives of the Saints

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

Catholic Culture

Catholic Online

Independent Catholic News

John Dillon

Saint Peter’s Basilica Info

uCatholic: Did Saint Peter Have a Daughter?

Wikipedia

images

Santi e Beati

Wikimedia Commons

video

YouTube PlayList

sitios en español

Martirologio Romano2001 edición

fonti in italiano

Cathopedia

Martirologio Romano2005 edition

Santi e Beati

Wikipedia

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/

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


Sint-Pieterskerk (Rekem) schrijn Petronella


Book of Saints – Petronilla

Article

(SaintVirgin (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 Saints1921. CatholicSaints.Info. 21 October 2016. Web. 2 June 2023. <https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-petronilla/>

SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-petronilla/

Sint-Pieterskerk (Rekem) Petronella


May 31

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

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


Simone Pignoni  (1611–1698). Communion of Saint Petronilla, 141 x 114, Hermitage (Sint-Petersburg)


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 Saints1889. 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 Saints1900. 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

31 maggio

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

SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/55450