St. Christina of Bolsena, Virgin and Martyr (third century)
REJECTING THE LIFE OF A PAGAN PRIESTESS
Saint Christina, along with St. Lucy, St. Cecilia and St. Agnes, is ranked among the great virgin martyrs honored in Rome. She was born to a noble family and her father, Urban, was a leading citizen and magistrate in Vulsunium of Tuscany. He was deeply enmeshed in Etruscan paganism and owned a number of idols which he had decorated with silver, gold, and precious stones. It seems this city was a center of their pagan worship, for in the edicts of Constantine the Great, it is recorded that the pagan priests of Umbria and Tuscany held there a solemn annual festival. Desiring more honor for himself, Urban chose to dedicate his daughter to his gods and have her become a priestess. He rejected many suitors for her hand and placed her in a temple along with all his idols and two attending servants. There Cristina was told to offer incense to the gods.
By the grace of God, an angel appeared to Cristina and instructed her in the true Faith. The angel called her a 'Bride of Christ' and forewarned her of her many trials. She accepted the Christian Faith and sought baptism. Moved by the Holy Ghost and unable to tolerate the demons around her, she broke her father's many idols (like Abraham of old). She ten took the broken pieces of precious metals and stones and distributed them amongst the poor.
TERRIBLE SUFFERINGS UNDER THREE MAGISTRATES
Urban questioned his daughter regarding the disappearance of the idols, but she remained silent. Fearing torture, the servants however revealed what had happened. Urban considered himself betrayed by his own daughter and set upon a course of cruelly torturing her; by most accounts, Christina was only ten years old! Urban scourged with her a rod and then had her thrown into prison. The young girl refused to abandon her faith. Next, he had parts of her flesh ripped from her chaste body with iron hooks. This too could not dissuade the young virgin who prayed incessantly for the grace to endure these bodily and emotional torments. The torturers then fastened her body to an iron rack and kindled a fire beneath her. Yet God preserved his handmaiden. The flames grew so strong that some of the onlookers were harmed, but she remained unscathed (like the Three Young Men who refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar's statue).
Seeing that she could not be killed by this horrendous pains, Urban next had a millstone tied about her neck and she was tossed into Lake Bolsena. An angel rescued her and she was seen by onlookers walking on water and accompanied by various angels in human form. When her father heard she was still alive, his incredulous rage turned into atrocious sufferings and he himself died. A new judge was appointed to torture and execute Christina. He was selected precisely on account of his experience in persecuting Christians. First he attempted to appeal to her intellect, by using all sorts of specious arguments and fallacious reasoning. The young girl exposed them all. Next he used flattery and the allurements of pleasure and human respect. He even reminded her of her noble position in society. She reprimanded him, "Christ, whom you despise, will tear me out of your hands!" Infuriated he proceeded to torture her. Yet he too was suddenly stricken by excruciating pains and died, thus halting her tortures.
[column size="2-3" last="0"]PRAYER FOR ENEMIES AND MARTYRDOM
A third magistrate, named Julian, was now called forth to execute Christina. Not mincing any words, he menacingly commanded her to worship the heathen gods, "Magician, adore the gods or I will put you to death!" Christina was thrown into a raging furnace - which she survived for five days without any nourishment. [One can not even imagine the pains she must have undergone, yet surely she won many merits to save others from the infinitely more terrible fires of purgatory and hell.] Seeing that the fire could not harm her, Julian had her tossed into a deep bit with venomous serpents and vipers. These would not touch her, instead they stung the pagan priest who brought them and he died instantly. Christina sent the serpents away with the holy Name of Jesus. Exhibiting great mercy and forgiveness, she then prayed for the dead priest - who came back to life! He was converted, thanked the "God of Christina," and promptly sought baptism.
Julian, believing she was a sorceress casting spells, next opted to cut out her tongue. Following this atrocious act, Julian mocked her and gloated that her powers were now gone. Christina could of course offer no retort. Instead she simply knelt and prayed - that she would be allowed to finish her earthly sufferings and enter heavenly glory to be united with her Spouse. Julian ordered his arches to execute her and she died riddled with arrows. [For this reason she is often depicted with arrows and/or with tongue cut.] She gained the martyr's crown in the city of Tyro, which used to stand on an island in Lake Bolsena. It was thereafter swallowed by the waters.[/column]
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ONE OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST EUCHARISTIC MIRACLES
In the 13th century, Christ decided to further exalt His little martyr. A great Eucharistic Miracle took place at Bolsena in the Church of St. Cristina. In 1263, a German priest, Peter of Prague, was on pilgrimage to Rome. He offered the Holy Sacrifice at the altar of St. Cristina. He knew the Catholic dogma of transubstantiation but had difficulty believing it. No sooner had he uttered the words of Consecration when blood began to seep from the consecrated Host and trickle over his hands and onto the corporal. At first, the confused priest attempted to hide the miracle. But as the flow of blood would not stop, he opted to carry the Sacred Host to the nearby city of Orvieto. Pope Urban IV (1261-64) was there at that time. The Supreme Pontiff absolved the priest and promptly ordered a thorough examination. Upon confirming the miraculous nature of the event, the Host and linen corporal with our Savior's Blood was placed in a beautiful reliquary. To this day it is adored and reverenced by hundreds of pilgrims who visit the great Cathedral of Orvieto. It was this miracle that was the final sign which Pope Urban IV needed to proclaim the Solemn Feast of Corpus Christi, on the Thursday following the Octave of Pentecost. Pope Urban IV commissioned St. Thomas Aquinas (and St. Bonaventure, though he withdrew himself in humble deference to the Angelic Doctor) to compose the prayers for this Solemn Mass. The famed Eucharistic Miracle at Bolsena is depicted on the walls of the Vatican in a mural by Raphael of Urbino.
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VENERATION AND RELICS
St. Cristina's relics now lie in Palermo, Sicily. However, several other locales dedicated to her patronage also have a relic of hers. One of her relics was presented to Archbishop Schrembs of Cleveland, Ohio in 1928 by Pope Pius XI. They are housed within a reliquary beneath the altar in the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist of that American city.
Her tomb was discovered in catacombs at Bolsena in the 19th century, marked with an inscription dating from the 10th century. Further archaeological evidence proved that a Catholic community venerated her there since the fourth century. Corroborating evidence from the 6th century was also discovered in nearby Ravenna. The rationalists, born from the revolutionary fires of the French Revolution that raged across the face of Europe, had denied her existence, as they deny much of the miraculous. Yet the discovery of her tomb, along with the relics of St. Philomena, were timely orchestrated by Divine Providence. These are important lessons that help counter a "modern criticism' with mistrusts everything supernatural and divine.