Isidora and Neophyta

Saints Isidora and Neophyta were two sisters of the Roman nobility of Lentini in Sicily, who lived between the second and the third century. They are venerated by the Catholic Church and, according to some sources, by the Orthodox Church.

Isidora was the mother of Thecla, an important figure in the Christian tradition of the city, and Neophyta was the mother of Neophytus, the future bishop of the city. In the time of the persecutions, the pagans threatened to take all their goods from them unless they renounced the Christian faith. They did not yield. They were stripped of their wealth and subjected to cruel tortures, without losing their faith. The sources do not agree on the date of the martyrdom: some say 236, others 238, on 17 April. Their bodies were buried in the place called Antiano, where Thecla built a church in memory of her mother and aunt.

They are saints of the undivided Church, honoured without synodal canonization.