Saint Christina. Virgin And Martyr. Feast Day 24 July.

Text (unless otherwise stated) is taken from The Saint Andrew Daily Missal,
which is available from ST. BONAVENTURE PRESS

Saint Christina.
Virgin and Martyr.
Feast Day 24 July.

Red Vestments.

English: Statue of Saint Christina,

The Church of Saint Christina,

Ravensburg, 

Germany.

Deutsch: Hl. Christina von Bolsena, Skulptur von Moriz Schlachter,

Pfarrkirche St. Christina, Ravensburg, Germany.

Photo: 20 January 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: AndreasPraefcke.

(Wikimedia Commons)

Saint Christina was born in Tuscany, Italy. At the age of ten, she took away the silver idols, in her father's house, and broke them up. On this account, she was delivered up to the persecutors, tied to a post, and pierced with arrows.

She thus added, to the merit of her Virginity, that of Christian Fortitude (Collect). This was under the Persecutions of Emperor Diocletian towards 300 A.D.

Mass: Me exspectavérunt.

English: The Parish Church of Saint Christina,

Regensburg, Germany.

Deutsch: Pfarrkirche St. Christina, Ravensburg.

Photo: 20 January 2006.

Source: Own work.

Author: AndreasPraefcke.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The following Text is from Wikipedia - the free encyclopaedia.

Saint Christina of Bolsena, Italy, also known as Christina of Tyre, or, in the Eastern Orthodox Church, as Christina the Great Martyr, is Venerated as a Christian Martyr of the 3rd-Century. Archaeological excavations of an underground cemetery, constructed at her tomb, have shown that she was Venerated at Bolsena by the 4th-Century A.D.

The existence of Christina is relatively well attested. Although some versions of her legend place her in Tyre (Phoenicia), the most credible evidence points to Bolsena, Italy: An ancient town in central Italy, near an Etruscan site called Volsinium, with catacombs, in which archaeologists have found the remains of an Early-Christian Church and the tomb of a female Martyr.

Inscriptions, found on the site, confirm that this Martyr had a name like Christina and that the local community was Venerating her as a Saint by the end of the 4th-Century. Some corroborating evidence is provided by a 6th-Century mosaic in the Basilica of Saint Apollinare Nuovo, at Ravenna, Italy, which includes, in its Procession of Virgins, a Saint named Christina, wearing a Martyr's Crown.

The Mass at Bolsena.

Artist: Raphael (1483–1520).

Date: 1512.

This File: 30 March 2007.

User: David Sneek.

(Wikimedia Commons)

The Mass at Bolsena is a painting by the Italian Renaissance artist, Raphael. It was painted between 1512 and 1514 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Raphael Rooms, in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican. It is located in the Stanza di Eliodoro, which is named after The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple.

The Mass at Bolsena shows an incident that is said to have taken place in 1263. A Bohemian Priest, who doubted the Doctrine of Transubstantiation, celebrated Mass at Bolsena, Italy, where the Bread of the Eucharist began to Bleed. The following year, in 1264, Pope Urban IV instituted the Feast of Corpus Christi, to celebrate this miraculous event.

The Priest was saying Mass, and, when he doubted the Transubstantiation, Blood spouted from the Host and fell onto the Altar Cloth, in the shape of a Cross, and he was rec-converted.

Present in this painting, is a self-portrait of the artist, Raphael, as one of the Swiss Guard in

the lower right of the fresco, facing out with bound-up hair. This is one of several instances

in which Raphael has placed himself in his paintings. Also shown in the work is

Pope Julius II (1443-1513), kneeling at the right, and his daughter, Felice della Rovere,

shown on the left at the bottom of the steps, in profile, in dark clothes. The four Cardinals,

to the right, have also been identified as Leonardo Grosso della Rovere, Raffaello Riario,

Tommaso Riario and Agostino Spinola, relatives of Julius.

The Martyr, Christina, lived during the 3rd-Century. She was born into a rich family, and her father was Governor of Tyre. By the age of 11, the girl was exceptionally beautiful, and many wanted to marry her. Christina's father, however, envisioned that his daughter should become a pagan priestess.

To this end, he placed her in a special dwelling, where he had set up many gold and silver idols, and he commanded his daughter to burn incense before them. Two servants attended Christina.

According to legend, on one occasion, Christina was visited by an Angel, who instructed her in the True Faith. The Angel called her a Bride of Christ, and told her about her future suffering. Christina smashed all the idols in her room and threw them out the window.

In visiting his daughter, Christina's father, Urban, asked her where all the idols had disappeared. Christina was silent. Then, having summoned the servants, Urban learned the truth from them.

A second legend is connected to Saint Christina. The Miracle of Bolsena, often considered to be the catalyst for the Feast of Corpus Christi, recalls an event in the Umbrian region of Italy in 1263. A Priest, named Peter, from the City of Prague, nurtured doubts regarding the Transubstantiation of the Host during Mass, and, during his Pilgrimage toward Rome, Prayed to be relieved of his questions.

While saying the Words of Consecration, in the Church of Saint Christina, in Bolsena, Italy, the Host dripped Blood on his hands and on the Altar Cloth, below. The Miracle of Bolsena is depicted on the walls of the Vatican, in a painting by Raphael.