Fusca of Ravenna is a child martyr killed ca. 250 AD in Ravenna, Italy under the persecutions of Decius. Her nurse, Maura, was martyred with her. She is venerated as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.[3] Her feast day is February 13th.[1]

Life

Her father was nobleman in Ravenna.[2] She was raised by her father's slave Maura.[2] They both were baptised by the priest Ermolar.[2] Her father reported them to local judge who sentenced them to death on February 13, 250.[2] Fusca was reportedly 15-year old at the time of her martyrdom.[2]

Veneration

Her grave became a place of pilgrimage shortly after her death.[2] During barbaric invasions in Italy, her body was hidden at the Torcello island near Venice.[2] A church was erected on the place of her burial in the 12th century.[2]

There are four churches dedicated to her in Istria.[2] In Croatian, she is known and venerated under the name Foška.[1][2]

The presence of a column painting of the saint at the Church of the Nativity, in Bethlehem has provoked scholarly interest.[4]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c "Fusca". Ökumenisches Heiligenlexikon (in German).
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Ružin, Marijan (February 2025). "Vječno mlada Foška" [Eternaly young Foška]. Mali koncil (in Croatian). Vol. LX, no. 598. p. 15. ISSN 1331-2731.
  3. ^ "CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Saint Fusca of Ravenna".
  4. ^ Hunt, Lucy-Anne (1991). "Art and Colonialism: The Mosaics of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem (1169) and the Problem of "Crusader" Art". Dumbarton Oaks Papers. 45: 69–85. doi:10.2307/1291693. ISSN 0070-7546. JSTOR 1291693.
Allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fusca_of_Ravenna
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