Faustina of Como

Saint Faustina of Como lived in the 6th century at Como in northern Italy and reposed around 580. She is venerated together with her sister, Liberata.

The two sisters, of noble birth, withdrew to a hermitage in the western part of the old center of the city, where they built a church, dedicated first to the Mother of God and later to Saint Ambrose. Later they moved outside the walls, to the west, near the Cosia stream: they built first a small church of Saint John the Baptist, then a Benedictine monastery, dedicated first to Santa Maria Vetere and then to Santa Margherita, the first monastic community of the diocese of Como. They lived there in humility and prayer and died with a great reputation for holiness.

The saints are commemorated on 19 January, by the Western calendar (new style). Buried in the monastery church, their relics were moved to the cathedral by Bishop Grimoldi (1096-1125), and on 13 May 1317 Bishop Lambertenghi had them placed under the high altar. A cycle of frescoes from the first decades of the 14th century, from the monastery of Santa Margherita, is kept today in the picture gallery of Como. She is honored as a saint of the undivided Church.