Also
known as
Prisca
Profile
Married to
Manius Acilius Glabrio. Mother of
Senator Pudens. Supported Saint Peter
the Apostle in his work in Rome, Italy,
her villa near the Roman
catacombs serving as Peter‘s
headquarters.
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
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MLA
Citation
“Saint Priscilla of
Rome“. CatholicSaints.Info. 16 January 2023. Web. 7 January 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-priscilla-of-rome/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-priscilla-of-rome/
Article
(Saint) Widow (January
16) (1st
century) A noble Roman matron, mother of
the Senator Pudens and grandmother of Saints Praxedes
and Pudentiana. The tradition is that she was the hostess in Rome of Saint Peter
the Apostle, by whom she had been converted to Christianity.
She appears to have survived the Apostle. A celebrated church in Rome bears
her name. She must not be confused with her contemporary, Saint Priscilla,
the wife of Aquila (Romans 16:3).
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Priscilla”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
24 December 2016. Web. 7 January 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-priscilla/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-priscilla/
Saints of the
Day – Priscilla, Matron
Article
(also known as Prisca)
1st century (c.98). Saint Priscilla, was the widow of Mancius Aeilius Glabrio,
who was executed by Domitian most likely because he was a Christian. She was
probably the mother of Saint Pudens, the senator. Tradition has it that she was
the Roman hostess to Saint Peter, who used her home on Via Salaria as his
headquarters in Rome. The catacomb of Priscilla under her home was named after
her (Benedictines, Delaney).
MLA
Citation
Katherine I
Rabenstein. Saints of the Day, 1998. CatholicSaints.Info.
21 September 2021. Web. 7 January 2026.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-priscilla-matron/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saints-of-the-day-priscilla-matron/
St. Prisca
She was a martyr of the Roman Church, whose
dates are unknown. The name Prisca or Priscilla is often mentioned by early
authorities of the history
of the Church of Rome. The wife of Aquila, the pupil
of St. Paul,
bore this name. The grave of a martyr Prisca
was venerated in
the Roman Catacomb of
Priscilla on the Via Salaria. The place of interment is explicitly mentioned in
all the seventh-century itineraries to the graves of the Roman martyrs (De Rossi, "Roma
sotterranea", I, 176, 177). The epitaph of a Roman Christian named
Priscilla was found in the "larger Catacomb", the Coemeterium maius,
on the Via Nomentana, not far from the Catacomb of St.
Agnes [De Rossi, Bull. di arch. crist.
(1888-1889), 130, note 5]. There still exists on the Aventine a church of St.
Prisca. It stands on the site of a very early title church, the Titulus
Priscoe, mentioned in the fifth century and built probably in the fourth. In
the eighteenth century there was found near this church a bronze tablet with an
inscription of the year 224, by which a senator named Caius Marius Pudens
Cornelianus was granted citizenship in a Spanish city. As such tablets were
generally put up in the house of the person so honoured, it is possible
that the senator's palace stood on the spot where the church was built later.
The assumption is probable that the Prisca who founded this title church, or
who, perhaps as early as the third century, gave the use of a part of the house
standing there for the Christian church
services, belonged to the family of Pudens
Cornelianus. Whether the martyr buried in
the Catacomb of
Priscilla belonged to the same family or was
identical with the founder of the title church cannot be proved. Still some family relationship
is probable, because the name Priscilla appears also in the senatorial family of the
Acilii Glabriones, whose burial-place was in the Catacomb of
Priscilla on the Via Salaria. The "Martyrologium Hieronymianum"
mentions under 18 January a martyr Priscilla on
the Via Salaria (ed. De Rossi-Duchesne, 10). This Priscilla is evidently
identical with the Prisca whose grave was in the Catacomb of
Priscilla and who is mentioned in the itineraries of the seventh century. Later
legendary traditions identified the founder of the Titulus Priscoe with St. Paul's friend,
Priscilla, whose home would have occupied the spot on which the church was
later erected. It was from here that St. Paul sent a greeting in his Epistle to
the Romans. Another legend relates the martyrdom of a
Prisca who was beheaded at the tenth milestone on the Via Ostiensis, and whose
body Pope
Eutychianus is said to have translated to the church of Prisca on the
Aventine. The whole narrative is unhistorical and its details impossible. As 18
January is also assigned as the day of the execution of this Priscilla, she is
probably the same as the Roman martyr buried in
the Catacomb of
Priscilla. Her feast is
observed on 18 January.
Sources
Acta SS., January, II,
184 sqq.; DUFOURCQ, Les Gesta martyrum romains, I (Paris, 1900), 169 sq.;
GORRES, D. Martyrium d. hl. Prisca in Jahrbuch fur protest. Theologie (1892),
108 sq.; CARINI, Sul titolo presbiterale di S. Prisca (Palermo, 1885); DE ROSSI,
Della casa d'Aquila e Prisca sull' Aventino in Bull. d'arch. crist. (1867), 44
sq.; IDEM, Aquila e Prisca e gli Acilii Glabriones, ibid. (1888-9), 128 sq.;
MARUCCHI, Les basiliques et églises de Rome (2nd ed., Rome, 1909), 180 sq.;
BUTLER, Lives of the Saints, January, I, 83.
Kirsch, Johann
Peter. "St. Prisca." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
12. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1911. <https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12428c.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Robert B. Olson. Offered to
Almighty God for Mary Sue Wheeler.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2026 by New Advent LLC.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12428c.htm
St. Prisca
Died in the late first
century
Patron Saint of prisoners
St. Prisca, also known as
St. Priscilla, is venerated as an early Roman virgin martyr and the foundress
of the Church of St. Prisca on the Aventine Hill in Rome. While details of her
life are scarce, the Church honors her as a young Christian woman who gave
courageous witness to Christ in the earliest centuries of the Faith.
According to tradition,
St. Prisca was a noble Roman maiden who lived during the reign of Emperor
Claudius. From her youth, she professed belief in Christ and refused to worship
the pagan gods of the empire.
At the age of 13, St.
Prisca was brought to the emperor, who intended to take her as his concubine.
He demanded that St. Prisca make a sacrifice to the Roman god Apollo. She
courageously refused to worship the pagan deity, knowing that her refusal would
lead to her death.
Because of St. Prisca’s
steadfast confession of faith, she was imprisoned and condemned to death.
According to tradition, she suffered many tortures. She was scourged, tormented
with boiling fat, and hooked and stretched on a rack. After each torture, she
refused to deny her faith.
She was then thrown into
the amphitheater to be devoured by a lion, but the beast would not harm her;
instead, it humbly crouched at her feet. Finally, St. Prisca was beheaded for
her faith, becoming one of the first Roman virgin martyrs.
A church on the Aventine
Hill, Titulus Priscillae, stands on the site believed to be where St.
Prisca lived. Her steadfast fidelity to Truth and her courage, even unto death,
show that true strength is not found in power or influence, but in unshakable
faith and fervent love that unites the soul with Christ, even amid trial and
persecution.
Is St. Prisca the same
person mentioned by St. Paul in his letters?
There were two Priscillas
martyred during the first century. St. Prisca, a virgin martyr, is often
confused with St. Priscilla, the wife of Aquila, who assisted St. Paul in his
missionary work (see Acts 18:2). Most scholars believe these were two distinct
individuals living around the same time. Both women were known by both names
(Prisca and Priscilla). The other St. Priscilla was also martyred along with
her husband, St. Aquila. She was an early Christian missionary and a friend of
St. Paul.
What is significant about
the Church of St. Prisca on the Aventine Hill?
The Church of St. Prisca,
built over an ancient Roman home, is one of the oldest Christian sites in Rome.
It stands as a testimony to the early house-church communities that gathered in
secret to worship Christ. Archaeological studies show that this house-church
may date to the earliest Christian community in Rome.
How many Christians were
thrown to the lions by the Romans during the early centuries?
The sentence of damnatio
ad bestias, which is Latin for condemnation to beasts, was a form of Roman
capital punishment used for both ordinary criminals and Christians. There are
no records of how many Christians were sentenced to death in this way. The
sentence involved a condemned person being thrown to wild animals as a public
spectacle, and the punishment was typically applied to lower classes, slaves,
the worst criminals, and those who were not Roman citizens. Christians also
faced this form of punishment during persecution as a form of public execution.
While citizens might receive a swifter death, like beheading, slaves and
lower-class individuals were more likely to be subjected to death by beasts,
usually lions or other large cats.
SOURCE : https://ewtnmission.com/dailysaint/st-prisca/
Cappella
Greca. Catacomba di Priscilla (Roma)
Galleria
con loculi. Catacomba di Priscilla (Roma)
Santa Priscilla di Roma Matrona
I sec. ?
Il nome di questa santa
presenta un complesso problema agiografico – archeologico; essa fu inserita
come matrona romana, nel ‘Martirologio Romano’ nel secolo XVI; è diventata
controversa la sua identificazione. Potrebbe essere la moglie del martire Aquila
che porta il suo stesso nome Priscilla e che a sua volta è detta anche Prisca,
ricordata negli Atti degli Apostoli e nella lettera di s. Paolo.
Oppure può essere
identificata con l’omonima fondatrice del cimitero sulla nuova via Salaria
(Catacombe di Priscilla). In ogni modo non vi sono notizie di un culto, prima
dell’inserimento nel ‘Martirologio Romano’ al 16 gennaio, da parte del grande
Cesare Baronio.
Etimologia: Priscilla =
(come Prisco) primitivo, di un'altra età, dal latino
La tradizione agiografica
accolta nel Martirologio Romano ricorda al 16 gennaio una santa Priscilla che
sarebbe stata moglie di Manlio Acilio Glabrione e madre del senatore Pudente, e
che avrebbe ospitato san Pietro nella propria villa a Roma situata nei pressi
del cimitero di Priscilla sulla via Salaria: il nome e la data compaiono in
manoscritti tardi del Martirologio Geronimiano, sulla base dei quali sono
confluiti nel Romano. L'identificazione resta delle più problematiche,
fondandosi sulla evidente contaminazione di diverse leggende romane e di dati
di natura archeologica ed epigrafica: il celebre cimitero sulla via Salaria,
luogo della deposizione di martiri e di papi del IV sec. (Marcellino, Marcello,
Silvestro, Liberio, secondo la Depositio episcoporum e il Liber pontificalis),
è verosimilmente all'origine dello statuto di santità attribuito all'eponima
fondatrice, forse membro della gens Acylia (una Priscilla di rango senatorio,
sorella di Manius Acilius Vero, è ricordata in un'epigrafe nell'ipogeo degli
Acilii Glabrioni situato nelI’area), oppure - come ritenuto da qualche studioso
- una liberta.
Secondo lo stesso
meccanismo, com'è noto, divennero spesso oggetto di culto e di elaborazione
agiografica gli eponimi di tituli basilicali romani, considerati come santi locali
oppure identificati con martiri forestieri. Si pensi al caso di sant’Anastasia,
oppure a quello - assai significativo in rapporto al problema
dell'identificazione di santa Priscilla - di una martire Prisca venerata a Roma
nel VII sec., commemorata il 18 gennaio e sepolta - secondo gli itinerari coevi
- nello stesso cimitero: è però da ritenere che si trattasse della fondatrice
di un titulus sull'Aventino, menzionato in un'epigrafe del V secolo e negli
atti del sinodo del 499; più tardi, al sinodo del 595, la chiesa viene ormai
chiamata titulus sanctee Priscae, e nel sec. VIII la fondatrice viene
identificata con la Prisca (o Priscilla) moglie di Aquila, di cui parlano san
Paolo (Rm 16,3; 1Cor 16,19) e gli Atti degli Apostoli (18,2 e 18), si che il
titulus - denominato Aquile et Prisce nel Liber pontificalis, II, 20, 24 e
42-43 - viene messo in relazione con le memorie apostoliche e con la stessa
attività di Pietro e di Paolo a Roma.
La vicinanza delle date
di commemorazione (16 e 18 gennaio), la somiglianza dei nomi e la costante
rappresentata dal cimitero sulla Salaria deporrebbero a favore dell'ipotesi di
una confusione o di una sovrapposizione tra le due sante: ad entrambe
tradizioni tarde tendono infatti ad attribuire l’identità prestigiosa - accreditata
dalla fonte neotestamentaria - dell'ospite di san Paolo a Corinto, attiva con
il marito Aquila nella prima catechesi cristiana. Aquila e Prisca (o Priscilla)
vi erano giunti da Roma in seguito all'espulsione dei Giudei locali decretata
nel 49 dall'imperatore Claudio; nella capitale d'Acaia offrirono ospitalità a
Paolo, e più tardi si misero in viaggio con lui, stabilendosi a Efeso; al tempo
dell'Epistola ai Romani (58) si trovavano a Roma, come prova l'affettuoso e
grato saluto loro rivolto dall'Apostolo (16,3-5); una notizia più tarda, nella
Seconda Lettera a Timoteo (4,19), ne riferisce il ritorno a Efeso:
I’attribuzione ai due coniugi della qualità di "apostoli e martiri",
presente nel Sinassario Costantinopolitano alla data del 13 febbraio, non ha
fondamento, e sembra un'amplificazione dell'allusione di san Paolo ai rischi
che costoro avrebbero corso per la sua salvezza (Rm 16,3).
L'origine romana della
coppia, la grafia greca del nome Aquila (Acylas), che rimanderebbe alla gens
Acylia collegata con il cimitero sulla Salaria, e la presenza epigraficamente
attestata nello stesso luogo di una Priscilla (nonché quella di una martire
Prisca ricordata negli Itinerari del VII sec.), hanno certamente contribuito ad
accreditare l'identificazione e a provocare la confusione di personaggi e di
tempi. Va aggiunto inoltre che a comporre la leggenda che metteva in relazione
Priscilla (o Prisca) con l’attività di Pietro a Roma concorse la contaminazione
con il ciclo agiografico relativo alle sante Pudenziana e Prassede, figlie del
senatore Pudente (secondo la tradizione <>) e nipoti di una Priscilla,
tutti sepolti nel cimitero sulla via Salaria.
Una Priscilla matrona
romana compare inoltre nella Vita di s. Marcello di Anastasio Bibliotecario
(sec. IX), come colei alla quale il papa si sarebbe rivolto per la costruzione
del cimitero poi ricordato sotto il suo nome: la notizia e la conseguente
identificazione con la fondatrice sono evidentemente frutto della fantasia
dell'agiografo. È in ogni caso interessante notare che il 16 gennaio,
ricorrenza di santa Priscilla, è anche la data tradizionale della depositio nel
cimitero sulla Salaria di papa Marcello (Lib. pont., I, 164): segno ancora una
volta dell'originario legame tra il cimitero di Priscilla e il moltiplicarsi
delle leggende agiografiche sulla fondatrice, incrementate dalla fame dei
personaggi ivi deposti.
Autore: M. Forlin
Patrucco
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/38150
Den hellige Priscilla
Minnedag:
16. januar
Den hellige Priscilla var
antagelig gift med Manius Acilius Glabrio og var mor til den romerske senator
Pudens. En av Romas eldste katakomber er oppkalt etter henne. Den ligger under
hennes villa, som man forteller var den hellige Peters hovedkvarter.
Sist oppdatert: 1997-12-15 20:22
SOURCE : https://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/priscill
