Restituta of Carthage

Saint Restituta of Carthage was a virgin of North Africa, a martyr under Valerian (255) or under Diocletian (304); the place and date of her martyrdom are not precisely known. She is said to have been born at Carthage or Teniza, in present-⁠day Tunisia, and is sometimes counted among the Martyrs of Abitinae. She is commemorated on 17 May.

A later medieval legend, told by Peter the Subdeacon in the tenth century, says that after being horribly tortured Restituta was placed in a blazing boat loaded with oakum and resin, but remained unharmed and asked God for aid. An angel guided the boat to the island of Ischia, at San Montano. A local Christian woman, Lucina, had dreamt of the angel and the boat, and found on the beach the resplendent and incorrupt body of the saint, who had died. She was buried at the foot of Monte Vico in Lacco Ameno, where a paleochristian basilica was raised and a sanctuary now stands.

Her cult spread from Africa to Italy at the time of the expulsion of Catholics by the Arian Vandal Genseric. Her relics may have been brought to Naples in the fifth century by Gaudiosus; a church of Santa Restituta was built there in the sixth century, and was incorporated in the thirteenth century into the cathedral of the city. She is patroness of Lacco Ameno and is especially venerated on Ischia, where a three-⁠day celebration is held from 16 to 18 May.