Epiphania

Saint Epiphania of Lentini was a Roman noblewoman, venerated as a saint, virgin and martyr by the Catholic Church. She died at Lentini in 253.

Epiphania was the wife of Alexander, known as Saint Neophytus, counselor of the governor Tertullus, persecutor of Christians, and sister of Rhodippus. Her story is closely interwoven with the martyrdom of the brothers Alphius, Philadelphus and Cyrinus, who brought her and Alexander to the faith in 253. Moved by the miracles worked by the three martyrs, Epiphania detached herself from her possessions, distributing them to the poor, and devoted her life to prayer, penance and mercy. The conversion of Alexander, baptized then as Neophytus, led to great tension with Tertullus, who, unable to seize Alexander, wished to strike Epiphania to force her to reveal her husband's hiding place. Epiphania refused both the enticements and the threats and remained steadfast in the new faith. She was arrested and subjected to cruel torments; as with the martyr Saint Agatha of Catania, terrible mutilations were inflicted on her, among them the cutting off of her breasts. According to tradition she met her end at the place where the church of the Madonna della Catena now stands. Her body, thrown into a cave, was later found together with rock paintings depicting her.