Sainte Afra
Martyre
à Augsbourg (✝ 304)
ou Affre.
C'était une prostituée de grand luxe qui vivait en Bavière. Elle faisait payer
très cher ses faveurs, aussi quand elle devint catéchumène, tout le monde en
parla et elle fut sommée de sacrifier aux dieux pour reprendre ses relations
perverses.
"Mes péchés sont assez nombreux pour que je n'y ajoute pas celui-là,
dit-elle. Mon martyre me servira de baptême."
Un internaute nous communique qu'à un cours d'anthropologie du
Professeur Charlier de l'université de Lille au sujet de Sainte Afra, il a
noté que, d'après l'analyse récente de ses reliques, l'hypothèse
qu'elle fut brulée a été rejetée, ses ossements ne présentant pas de signe de
crémation, mais elle présentait des traces de découpe au sabre sur la base du
crâne, les chercheurs chargés de cette étude pensent ne pas se tromper en
indiquant qu'elle aurait été décapitée.
À Augsbourg, cité des Vindéliciens, en 304, sainte Afre, martyre dont on
rapporte qu’elle avait vécu dans le péché, mais que, convertie au Christ et
avant même d’être baptisée, elle fut livrée aux flammes pour avoir confessé le
Christ.
Martyrologe
romain
Sainte Afra
Martyre à Augsbourg (Bavière)
Fête le 5 août
Augsburg, Bavière – † Augusta Vindelicum, Rhétie, v. 304
Autre graphie : Afra ou Affre
Persécutée sous l’empereur romain Dioclétien, elle est encore vénérée à
Augsbourg, ancienne capitale de la Rhétie. Sainte Afra, martyre du temps des
Romains, et saint Ulrich sont les patrons d’Ulm. L’abbaye bénédictine
d’Augsbourg lui est dédiée. La tradition, qui fait d’elle une prostituée
cyprienne convertie, est erronée.
Martyre et ascète, fille du roi de Chypre, Afra fut persécutée à Augsburg
sous l’empereur romain Dioclétien. Elle est mentionnée dans le Martyrologe
Hiéronymien. Afra officiait probablement dans un lupanar à Augsburg ou se
prostituer dans le temple de Vénus, vivant avec sa mère, Hilaria, et leurs
servantes Eunomia, Eutropia et Digna. Quand les persécutions commencèrent à
Augsburg, Narcissus l’évêque de Géroné, en Catalogne, arriva dans la cité et
logea chez Afra et Hilaria, ne sachant pas leur profession. Sa sainteté attira
les femmes, qui se convertirent. Quand les fonctionnaires vinrent chercher
l’évêque, Afra le cacha sous une pile de linge. Afra et sa maisonnée furent
baptisées, et son oncle Dionysius fut ordonné évêque. Arrêtée, Afra fut brûlée,
liée à un arbre sur la petite île de Lech. Elle fut enterrée à Augsburg et sa
mère érigea une chapelle sur son tombeau. Peu après, Hilaria et ses servantes
furent brûlées vivantes dans leur maison. Les restes d’Afra furent ensevelis
dans une église. Les pèlerins visitaient son sanctuaire dès 565. En 1012, le
monastère bénédictin de Saint-Ulrich et Sainte-Afra exposait son sarcophage.
Les « Actes d’Afra » donnent des explications sur son martyre.
SOURCE : http://www.martyretsaint.com/afra/
LE
MARTYRE DE SAINTE AFRA
(L'an de Jésus Christ 304)
fêtée le 5 août
(L'an de Jésus Christ 304)
fêtée le 5 août
Dans la province de Rhétie, en la ville d'Augsbourg, la persécution sévissait contre les chrétiens, et on les soumettait tous à divers supplices pour les entraîner à sacrifier. Or il arriva que les persécuteurs saisirent Afra, connue de tout le peuple pour une prostituée. Quand elle eut été amenée au tribunal, le juge l'ayant interrogée, et ayant appris qui elle était, lui dit : «Sacrifie aux dieux; car pour toi il vaut mieux vivre que mourir dans les tourments.» Afra répondit : «J'ai assez des péchés que j'ai commis lorsque je ne connaissais pas Dieu; je ne ferai jamais ce que tu m'ordonnes de faire.» Le juge Gaïus lui dit : «Rends-toi au Capitole et sacrifie.» Afra lui répondit : «Mon Capitole est le Christ que j'ai devant les yeux : je lui confesse chaque jour mes crimes et mes péchés; et comme je suis indigne de lui offrir un sacrifice, je désire me sacrifier moi-même pour son nom, afin que ce corps, dans lequel j'ai péché, soit purifié par les supplices.» Le juge Gaïus dit : «J'apprends que tu es prostituée; sacrifie, car tu n'as rien de commun avec le Dieu des chrétiens.» Afra répondit : «Mon Seigneur Jésus Christ a dit qu'il était descendu du ciel pour les pécheurs. Ses Évangiles nous attestent qu'une courtisane ayant arrosé ses pieds de larmes, a reçu de lui le pardon; et que, loin de mépriser jamais les prostituées et les publicains, il a daigné manger avec eux.»
Le juge dit : «Sacrifie, et tes amants te chériront comme ils te chérissaient autrefois, et ils te donneront de grosses sommes d'argent.» Afra répondit : «Je ne recevrai plus cet argent abominable; celui que j'avais, je l'ai rejeté comme de l'ordure; car il provenait d'une honteuse origine. Mes frères les pauvres n'ont pas voulu le recevoir d'abord; mais je les ai suppliés de daigner l'accepter et de prier pour la pécheresse. Si donc j'ai rejeté l'argent que j'avais, comment pourrais-je chercher à acquérir ce que j'ai repoussé loin de moi comme de l'ordure ?» Le juge Gaïus dit : «Le Christ ne te trouve pas digne de lui. C'est une folie d'appeler ton Dieu, celui qui ne te reconnaît pas pour sienne. Une courtisane ne peut porter le nom de chrétienne.» Afra répondit : «Je suis indigne du nom et de la qualité de chrétienne; mais la miséricorde de Dieu, qui juge selon la bonté qui lui est propre, et non selon les mérites des hommes, a daigné me conférer ce titre.» Le juge Gaïus dit : «Comment sais-tu qu'il te l'a conféré ?» Afra répondit : «Je reconnais que je n'ai pas été rejetée de devant la face du Seigneur, à ce qu'il daigne m'admettre à la glorieuse confession de son saint nom, par laquelle je m'attends à recevoir le pardon de tous mes crimes.» Le juge dit : «Ce sont là des rêveries. Sacrifie plutôt aux dieux, qui t'accorderont ton salut.» Afra répondit : «Mon salut est le Christ, qui, suspendu à la croix, a promis les biens du ciel au larron pénitent.» Le juge Gaïus dit : «Sacrifie, si tu ne veux pas être fouettée en présence de ces amants qui ont vécu honteusement avec toi.» Afra répondit : «Il n'est pour moi d'autre confusion que celle de mes péchés.» Le juge dit : «Sacrifie sans retard; car c'est une honte pour moi de disputer si longtemps avec toi; si tu refuses, tu périras.» Afra dit : «C'est là ce que je souhaite, si toutefois je le mérite, afin que cette confession me rende digne de trouver le repos.» Le juge Gaïus dit : «Sacrifie, autrement je te ferai torturer, puis je donnerai l'ordre de te brûler vive.» Afra répondit : «Que ce corps, dans lequel j'ai péché, souffre tous les tourments, je ne souillerai point mon âme par les sacrifices des démons.»
Alors le juge impie dicta la sentence en ces termes : «Nous ordonnons que la courtisane Afra, qui s'est déclarée chrétienne et n'a point voulu participer aux sacrifices, soit brûlée vive.» Aussitôt les exécuteurs l'enlevèrent et la menèrent dans une île du Lech : là ils la dépouillèrent et la lièrent à un poteau. Elle leva alors les yeux au ciel et pria avec larmes, disant : «Seigneur Jésus Christ, Dieu tout-puissant, qui n'êtes pas venu appeler les justes, mais les pécheurs, à la pénitence; vous qui, par une parole inviolable et certaine, avez daigné nous promettre qu'à l'heure même où le pécheur se convertira de ses iniquités, vous en perdrez le souvenir; recevez à cette heure la pénitence de mes souffrances, et par ce feu temporel préparé à mon corps, délivrez-moi de ce feu éternel qui brûle à la fois l'âme et le corps.» Après cette prière, on l'environna de sarments auxquels on mit le feu tout aussitôt. On l'entendit alors qui disait : «Je vous rends grâces, Seigneur Jésus Christ, qui avez daigné m'accepter comme victime pour votre saint nom, vous qui avez été offert sur la croix, unique victime pour le monde entier; juste pour les injustes, bon pour les méchants, béni pour les maudits, exempt de péché pour tous les pécheurs. Je vous offre mon sacrifice, à vous, ô mon Dieu, qui vivez et régnez avec le Père et le saint Esprit, dans les siècles des siècles. Amen.» En disant ces paroles, elle rendit l'esprit.
Pendant que la bienheureuse martyre du Christ Afra entrait ainsi au ciel par le triomphe du martyre, Digna, Eunomia et Eutropia, qui avaient été ses servantes, pécheresses comme elle et baptisées avec elle par le saint évêque Narcisse, se tenaient sur le bord du fleuve. Elles supplièrent les exécuteurs qui revenaient de l'île de les y transporter dans leur barque. Ils les y conduisirent, et elles trouvèrent le corps de sainte Afra dans son entier. Un enfant qui était avec elles repassa à la nage, et en porta la nouvelle à Hilaria, mère de la martyre. Celle-ci vint, de nuit, avec les prêtres de Dieu, enleva le corps et le déposa à deux milles d'Augsbourg, dans un sépulcre qu'elle avait fait construire pour elle et pour les siens. Gaïus l'ayant appris, envoya ses gens à ce tombeau, leur disant : «Allez et arrêtez-les. Si elles consentent à sacrifier, vous me les amènerez avec honneur, afin que je les récompense largement; mais si vous les voyez persister dans leur obstination et refuser toute participation aux sacrifices, remplissez le sépulcre de sarments et d'épines sèches, fermez-le sur elles, puis mettez-y le feu, afin que pas une n'échappe.» Arrivés auprès d'elles, les soldats cherchèrent d'abord à les séduire par de belles promesses, puis à les effrayer par des menaces; enfin, les voyant fermes dans leur refus de sacrifier, ils remplirent le sépulcre de sarments et d'épines sèches, le fermèrent sur elles, y mirent le feu et partirent. Ainsi il advint que le jour même de l'ensevelissement de sainte Afra, sa mère Hilaria, et Digna, Eutropia et Eunomia, ses servantes selon la chair, mais ses sÏurs dans le Christ, reçurent la couronne du martyre; et que celles qui avaient gardé ensemble la foi de Jésus Christ, arrivèrent aussi ensemble, avec la palme du martyre, à ce même Dieu qui vit et règne avec le Père et le saint Esprit, dans les siècles. Amen.
Afra of Augsburg VM (RM)
Died c. 304. Saint Afra was probably a martyr during the Diocletian persecution
at Augsburg, Germany. Her unreliable vita is probably historically worthless,
although it does appear to be an embroidery of some historical reference. It
says that Afra, a prostitute in Augsburg from Cyprus, had been converted when
the Bishop of Gerona, driven from his diocese by persecution, reached Augsburg,
Germany, and took refuge in her mother's house. The transformation of her life
was complete, though Afra never ceased to live as if she were doing penance for
her former sins. When her time came to suffer she saw this too as a form of
atonement. The pagan judge before whom she was brought, accused of being a
Christian, told her that her own Lord would have nothing to do with such a
sinner as she had been. But Afra replied that although she was without a doubt
unworthy to be called a Christian, Jesus Christ had indeed admitted her as one.
"My body has
sinned," confessed the saint at her trial. "Let it suffer. I will not
ruin my soul by idolatry." Her executioners tied her to a stake on an
island in the River Lech. Dried vine branches were piled up around her and set
alight. That night Afra's mother and three other women, who are said to be
Afra's servants and former prostitutes themselves, sailed to the island,
gathered up Afra's body and buried it in a large tomb at Augsburg. The pagan
authorities saw them performing this last act of mercy. The four women were
shut up in the family tomb, which was then set on fire. They, like Saint Afra,
were burned to death.
The Benedictine
abbey in Augsburg is dedicated to Saint Afra (Attwater, Benedictines, Bentley,
Encyclopedia).
In art, Saint Afra
is depicted crowned and enthroned, holding a dead tree. She might also be shown
(1) suspended from a tree and scourged; (2) bound to a tree and burned; (3)
surrounded by flames; (4) boiled in a cauldron; or (5) holding a fir cone
(Roeder). She is the patron saint of Augsburg, Germany, and invoked by penitent
women (Roeder).
St. Afra and Companions, Martyrs
THE PERSECUTION of Dioclesian was
carried on with great cruelty by his colleague Maximian Herculeus in Africa,
Italy, Rhetia, Vindelicia, Noricum, and Upper Pannonia, the government of which
provinces fell to his share in the division of the empire. At Ausburg, in Rhetia,
the apparitors apprehended a woman called Afra, known to have formerly been a
common prostitute. The judge, by name Gaius, who knew who she was, said:
“Sacrifice to the gods; it is better to live than to die in torments.” Afra
replied: “I was a great sinner before I knew God; but I will not add new
crimes, nor do what you command me.” Gaius said: “Go to the capitol and
sacrifice.” Afra answered: “My capitol is Jesus Christ, whom I have always
before my eyes. I every day confess my sins; and, because I am unworthy to
offer him any sacrifice, 1 I desire to sacrifice myself for
his name, that this body in which I have sinned may be purified and sacrificed
to him by torments.” “I am informed,” said Gaius, “that you are a prostitute.
Sacrifice, therefore, as you are a stranger to the God of the Christians, and
cannot be accepted by him.” Afra replied: “Our Lord Jesus Christ hath said,
that he came down from heaven to save sinners. The gospels testify that an
abandoned woman washed his feet with her tears, and obtained pardon, and that
he never rejected the publicans, but permitted them to eat with him.” The judge
said: “Sacrifice, that your gallants may follow you, and enrich you.” Afra
answered: “I will have no more of that execrable gain. I have thrown away, as
so much filth, what I had by me of it. Even our poor brethren would not accept
of it, till I had overcome their reluctance by my entreaties, that they might
pray for my sins.” 2 Gaius said: “Jesus Christ will have
nothing to do with you. It is in vain for you to acknowledge him for your God:
a common prostitute can never he called a Christian.” Afra replied: “It is true,
I am unworthy to bear the name of a Christian; but Christ hath admitted me to
be one.” Gaius said: “Sacrifice to the gods, and they will save you.” The
martyr replied: “My Saviour is Jesus Christ, who upon the cross promised
paradise to the thief who confessed him.” The judge said: “Sacrifice, lest I
order you to be whipped in the presence of your lovers.” Afra replied: “The
only subject of my confusion and grief are my sins.” “Sacrifice,” said the
judge, “I am ashamed that I have disputed so long with you. If you do not
comply, you shall die.” Afra replied: “That is what I desire, if I am not
unworthy to find rest by this confession.” The judge said: “Sacrifice, or I
will order you to be tormented, and afterwards burnt alive.” Afra answered:
“Let that body which hath sinned undergo torments; but as to my soul, I will
not taint it by sacrificing to demons.” Then the judge passed sentence upon her
as follows: “We condemn Afra, a prostitute who hath declared herself a
Christian, to be burnt alive, because she hath refused to offer sacrifice to
the gods.”
The executioners
immediately seized her, and carried her into an island in the river Lech, upon
which Ausburg stands. There they stripped her and tied her to a stake. She
lifted up her eyes to heaven, and prayed with tears, saying: “O Lord Jesus
Christ, Omnipotent God, who camest to call not the righteous, but sinners to
repentance, accept now the penance of my sufferings, and by this temporal fire
deliver me from the everlasting fire, which torments both body and soul.”
Whilst the executioners were heaping a pile of vine branches about her, and
setting fire to them, she was heard to say: “I return thee thanks, O Lord Jesus
Christ, for the honour thou hast done me in receiving me a holocaust for thy
name’s sake; thou who hast vouchsafed to offer thyself upon the altar of the
cross a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, the just for the unjust, and
for sinners. I offer myself a victim to thee, O my God, who livest and reignest
with the Father and the Holy Ghost world without end. Amen.” Having spoken these
words she gave up the ghost, being suffocated by the smoke.
Three maids of the martyr, Digna,
Eunomia, and Eutropia, who had been sinners as well as their mistress, but were
converted and baptized at the same time by the holy bishop Narcissus, 3 stood all the while on the banks of
the river, and beheld her glorious triumph. After the execution they went into
the island, and found the body of Afra entire. A servant man who was with them
swam back, and carried the news to Hilaria, the martyr’s mother. She came in
the night with some holy priests, and carried away the body, which she interred
in a sepulchre she had built for herself and family, two miles from the city.
The sepulchres of the ancients were lofty buildings, and big enough to contain
several apartments. Whilst Hilaria and her attendants were still there, Gaius
was informed of what they had done. He, therefore, despatched soldiers thither
with an order to persuade the whole company to offer sacrifice, and if they
refused, to burn them alive without any other formality. The soldiers used both
mild words and threats; but finding all to no purpose, they filled the vault of
the sepulchre with dry thorns and vine branches, shut the door upon them, and
having set fire to the sticks went away. Thus St. Afra, her mother, and three
servants were honoured with the crown of martyrdom on the same day, which was
the 7th of August, as Ruinart and Tillemont 4 observe; though their festival is
kept on the 5th. They suffered in year 304. St. Afra is honoured as chief
patroness at Ausburg. In her we admire the perfect sentiments of a true
penitent. At every word and in every thought she has her sins always before her
eyes; persuaded she never could do enough to efface them, she never thinks on
what she had already done for that end; immediately upon her conversion she
gave what she possessed to the poor, doubtless led a most penitential life till
her death, and she rejoiced to suffer in order to atone for her former crimes.
See her genuine acts, copied from the public register, in Surius, Ruinart, p.
455, &c.
Note 1. Sinners under canonical penance were
not allowed to assist at the divine mysteries, but prayed without the church
door during mass. [back]
Note 2. The church, by its ancient
discipline, would not receive, even for the benefit of the poor, the offerings
of public sinners, or money which was acquired by wicked means. See
Constit. Apostol. l. 4, c. 5. 6. [back]
Note 3. This St. Narcissus is honoured at
Ausburg as the apostle of that country, on the 29th of October, but he is named
in the Roman Martyrology on the 18th of March. He is said to have fled from the
persecution in Spain, to have preached at Ausburg, and to have returned
afterwards to his church of Gironne in Catalonia, where he received the crown
of martyrdom with a deacon named Felix, mentioned by Prudentius, hymno,
4. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume
VIII: August. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
St. Afra
MARTYR.
The city of Augusta Vindelicorum
(the present Augsburg) was
situated in the northern part of the Roman
province of Rhætia on the river
Lech, not far from its junction with the Danube. It was an important Roman
colony, invested with municipal rights (municipium) by the Emperor Hadrian, into which Christianity had penetrated even before the time of Constantine,
as is proved beyond question by the martyrdom of St. Afra. It is an indisputable historical
fact that a Christian named Afra was beheaded at Augsburg during the persecution of Diocletian (c. 304) for her steadfast profession of faith, and that at an early period her grave was the
object of great veneration. The
so-called "Martyrologium Hieronymianum", a compilation from various calendars and lists of martyrs, dating
in its original form from the fourth century, mentions, under date of 5 August (in some manuscripts, 6 or 7 August), St. Afra as having
suffered in the city of Augsburg, and as buried
there (Martyrologium Hieronym., ed. De Rossi and Duchesne; Acta
SS., II, Nov., 1 sqq.). In his poem on St. Martin, Venantius Fortunatus, Bishop of Poitiers in the sixth century, also mentions Augsburg
as her burial place (Vita S. Martini,
IV, 642 sq.; Pergis ad Augustam quam Virdo et Lica fluentant, Illic ossa sacræ
venerabere martyris Afræ). There are extant certain
Acts of the martyrdom of St. Afra (Acta SS., II, August,
39 sqq.; ed. Krusch in Mon. Germ. Hist.; SS. RR. Merovingic.,
III, 56 sqq.), in the opinion of most critics
not a coherent whole, but a compilation of two different accounts, the story of
the conversion of St.
Afra, and the story of her martyrdom. The former is of later origin, and has not
the least claim to historical
credibility, being merely a legendary
narrative of Carlovingian times, drawn up with the intention
of connecting with St. Afra the organization of the church
of Augsburg. It relates that the grandparents of Afra came
from Cyprus to Augsburg
and were there initiated into the worship
of Venus. Afra was given over as a prostitute to the service of the goddess by
her own mother Hilaria, or
Hilara. In the persecution of Diocletian, Bishop Narcissus of Gerundum, in Spain, took refuge from his persecutors in Augsburg, and chanced to find an asylum
in Afra's house. Through his
efforts the family was converted to Christianity, and baptized. Narcissus, on his departure, ordained presbyter (or bishop) a brother of Hilaria,
Dionysius by name. To the same
narrative clearly belongs the conclusion of the story of Afra's
martyrdom, in which mention is made of the
mother and three handmaidens of Afra (Digna, Eunomia or Eumenia, and Eutropia
or Euprepia), who, after the remains of the martyr were placed in the tomb, themselves suffered martyrdom by fire. The second part of the "Acts of
Afra", dealing with her trial and death (Ruinart, Acta
Sincera, 482-484, Ratisbon,
1859), is more ancient. In the opinion of Duchesne it dates from the end of the
fourth, or the beginning of the fifth, century. It may, therefore, have
preserved, not only the fact of the martyrdom, but also reliable details concerning the Saint
and her death. In this narrative Afra alone is mentioned, and there is no trace
of those exaggerations and fantastic embellishments which characterize the
later legends of the martyrs. According to this Passio,
Afra (see ACTS OF MARTYRS) was condemned to the flames
because she professed herself a Christian, and refused to participate in pagan rites.
She was executed on a little
island in the river Lech, and her remains were buried
at some distance from the place of her death. The testimony of Venantius Fortunatus shows that her grave was held in
great veneration in the sixth
century. Her remains are still at Augsburg in the church
of Sts. Ulrich and Afra, beside
which stands a famous Benedictine abbey. Her feast is celebrated on 7 August [now 5 August --Ed.].
Kirsch, Johann Peter.
"St. Afra." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 5 Aug. 2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01180b.htm>.
Transcription. This article was transcribed for New
Advent by Bob Knippenberg.
Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil
Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New
York.
Santa Afra
Martire
Etimologia: Afra = originaria dell'Africa, dal latino
Martirologio Romano: Ad Augsburg nella Rezia, oggi in Germania, santa
Afra, martire: convertitasi a Cristo da una vita di peccato, si narra che, non
ancora battezzata, sia stata data al rogo per aver confessato la sua fede in
Cristo.
Sante
AFRA, ILARIA, DEGNA, EUMENIA e EUPREPIA, martiri
L'esistenza e il martirio di Afra sono storicamente accertati; ce ne fa fede il
Martirologio Geronimiano, che si basa su una notizia presa, come sembra, da un
calendario milanese del sec. V (7 agosto con anticipazione al 5 dello stesso
mese). Venanzio Fortunato visitò il suo sepolcro nel 565 (Vita S. Martini, IV,
pp. 640-643). La passio conservata in due stesure, di cui la prima è più breve
e più antica, e la Conversio sono da attribuirsi al sec. VIII; ambedue sono in
gran parte leggendarie. Secondo la passio più antica Afra era una meretrice
che, convertita al cristianesimo, ma non ancora battezzata, fu martirizzata.
Secondo la Conversio il vescovo Narciso guadagnò la cortigiana Afra alla
religione cristiana e la battezzò insieme con la madre di lei e le sue serve.
Durante la persecuzione di Diocleziano, Afra fu presa e condannata al rogo
(304). Sembra che l'autore della passio più antica abbia unito al nome di Afra
quello di Venerea, una martire di Antiochia, di cui si fa menzione, nello
stesso giorno, in un codice del Martirologio Geronimiano; da questo
accostamento sarebbe sorta la leggenda di Afra meretrice («Venerea»).
Contrariamente a ciò, in antichi calendari di Augusta (del 1010, 1050 e 1100) Afra
figura come vergine. Il corpo è venerato ad Augusta, nell'antichissima chiesa
dei SS. Ulrico e Afra.
Sant'Ilaria, madre di Afra, secondo la Conversio sant'Afrae fu battezzata da
Narciso; secondo la passio più recente seppellì il corpo della figlia insieme
con le sue ancelle Degna, Eumenia e Euprepia; rifiutandosi di allontanarsi
dalla tomba e di rinnegare il cristianesimo, fu arsa viva con le compagne lo
stesso giorno delle esequie di Afra.
Autore: Carlo
Egger
