Jovita

Holy Martyr Jovita was a deacon of Brescia in Italy who suffered together with his brother, the priest Faustinus, around the year 122. The Western calendars commemorate the two brothers together, and the city of Brescia honors them as its first patrons.

According to local tradition the brothers were born into a noble family of Brescia and first took up the career of arms. After baptism, Bishop Apollonius of Brescia called them to the service of the Church, Faustinus as priest and Jovita as deacon. When the bishop of the city hid for fear of persecution, they went on preaching boldly, and their zeal roused the anger of the pagans.

Seized by a pagan nobleman, they were tortured and taken in turn to Milan, Rome and Naples, baptizing great numbers of people along the way. Since neither torments nor threats could bend them, the Emperor Hadrian, who happened to be passing through Brescia, ordered them beheaded. The accounts of their sufferings, preserved in the so-⁠called acts, are legendary in character; what stands firm is their existence and martyrdom, recorded from early times in the martyrologies, and the centuries-⁠old veneration in Brescia.

Several cities claim their relics: Rome, Bologna, Verona and Brescia. Saints Faustinus and Jovita are patrons of the city and diocese of Brescia and are commemorated on 15 February, by the Western calendar (new style). Honored since the time of the undivided Church, Jovita is a saint of the undivided Church.