Benedicta

Saint Benedicta of Locuste (Benedetta di Locuste) was a Roman noblewoman of Vaste, in the province of Lecce, wife of the prefect Vitalis and mother of Saints Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus, venerated as a saint by the Catholic and the Orthodox Church. She died in 235-238.

She was of noble descent and married to Vitalis, a prince of high rank, with whom she had four children. The eldest daughter became the mother of the martyr Erasmus, and the other three (Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus) are venerated as holy martyrs. In the time of the persecution of the emperor Maximinus Thrax (235-238) she was arrested in her native city and received martyrdom by beheading. Her death was a witness before the people, to whom she spoke words of comfort and faith: "It is written in the Gospel that whoever loses his life for Christ in this world will gain eternal life in the other".