Quiteria

Quiteria was a fifth-century saint and virgin martyr about whom little is certain except her name, the date, place, and cause of her death, and existence of her cult. She is listed under the date of 22 May in the Roman Martyrology. She is one of the patron saints of Toledo, Spain. Accounts of her life include refusal to marry, protection for the vulnerable, and waging a guerilla war against the Roman Empire.

Name Quiteria may be derived from Kythere (or Kyteria, Kuteria), a title applied to the Phoenician goddess Astarte which meant "the red one", Her father wanted her to marry and renounce Christianity. Quiteria fled and her father's men found her at Aire-sur-l'Adour, in Gascony. She was beheaded on the spot. Her sister, Liberata, also suffered the same fate in the forest of Montus and lies in a 14th-century sarcophagus in the fortified church of Saint Jean Baptiste in Mazéres 32 km from her sister Quiteria in Aire-sur-l'Adour.

Quiteria and the Nonuplet sisters

Portuguese religious traditions state that Quiteria was the leader of the "Nonuplet Sisters", who were named Eumelia (Euphemia), Liberata (Virgeforte), Gema (Marina of Aguas Santas, Margarida), Genebra, Germana, Basilissa, Marica; and Vitoria (Victoria). These were born in Bracara Augusta, currently Braga, in the region of Minho to an important Roman military official. Their mother, disgusted at the fact that she had given birth to nine daughters all at once as if she were a common peasant (or an animal), ordered a maid to take them to a river to drown them.

Disobeying her mistress, however, the maid gave the girls over to some local women who brought them up as Christians.

Alternate legend Other Portuguese traditions make her a native of Bracara (Braga, Portugal) who was decapitated and thrown into the sea. This legend states that she emerged from the water with her head in her hands, and is thus sometimes represented as such. However, she is not considered one of the Cephalophores because there is no written record to support this. Her patronage against rabies stems from the fact that her legend states that she held two rabid dogs at bay with the power of her saintly voice. A festival in her honour was first held at Tui, Galicia in 2018 after a proclamation was made by its bishop.

In Kuthenkuly

Kuthenkuly, a coastal village in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu is the home to a shrine which is dedicated to Saint Quiteria. The shrine attracts thousands of pilgrims from different places. The shrine is known for its Thursday devotion. Quiteria is the patron saint of this village. The hagiography of Saint Quiteria, a Tamil language manuscript is preserved in this village.

Miracles Saint Quiteria's statue was first brought to the village Kuthenkuly by Thommai Poobalarayar, a native of Kuthenkuly, who made an intention to her for an heir and also built a chapel. His wife gave birth to a boy child. Many miracles were reported at Kuthenkuly.

A few years later many people died of plague in the town, and all the villagers prayed to the saint and were saved from the plague. People converted the shrine of the saint into a big Church in 1914. In 2015, the centenary of the church was celebrated in a grand manner.

Veneration There is a church dedicated to Sainte-Quitterie in Aire-sur-l'Adour.