Beatrix

Holy Martyr Beatrice (Beatrix, in popular speech Viatrix) was martyred at Rome in the year 304, under the emperor Diocletian, and is the sister of the martyrs Simplicius and Faustinus.

In the persecution Beatrice was arrested and tried because she had buried her brothers Simplicius and Faustinus, who had died as martyrs and been thrown into the Tiber in 303. Despite the threats of the judges, she stood firm in her faith. She was condemned to death and martyred at Rome in 304. Another woman, Lucina, buried her body with that of a man named Rufus, of whom nothing is known, perhaps her husband, in the pozzolana quarry where she had buried her brothers. The quarry was already used as a cemetery and became known as the Catacomb of Generosa (or of the Portuense).

Around the year 382, Pope Damasus raised a semi-⁠underground basilica over the place of her tomb, making it a place of veneration of the martyrs. In 682 Pope Leo II moved the relics of the martyrs to the church of Santa Bibiana. It is said that part of her relics, together with her brothers', is kept at Santa Maria Maggiore. She is commemorated on 29 July or 13 May, the day of the dedication of the basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels and Martyrs. She is a saint of the undivided Church, honoured in the Catholic Church.