Emerentiana

Emerentiana was a Roman virgin and martyr, who lived around the start of the 4th century. Her feast day is 23 January.

Legend According to the legend of Agnes of Rome, Emerentiana was her foster sister. Agnes was a rich Roman heiress who was martyred after refusing an engagement due to her Christian religion. Emerentiana's mother was the wet nurse and nanny of Agnes.

A few days after Agnes' death, Emerentiana, who was a catechumen still learning about Christianity before being officially baptised, went to the tomb to pray and was suddenly attacked by the pagans. Having professed her faith and acknowledged her relationship to Agnes, she was stoned to death by the crowd. In this way, she can be considered to have undergone a baptism of desire, or a baptism of blood, according to the tenets of the Catholic Church. Her feast day is 23 January.

She is represented as a young girl who either has stones in her lap and lilies in her hand, An altar dedicated to her with a marble relief by Ercole Ferrata depicting her martyrdom is in Sant'Agnese in Agone.

She is invoked against colic and stomach ache.

Popular culture Emerentiana had a tiny cameo role in Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman's novel, Fabiola, where she is seen mourning for Agnes right after the latter's martyrdom.