Lives Of The Saints
September 7
St. Regina
Regina is honored as an ancient virgin martyr whose courage and fidelity to Christ were treasured at Alise long after the details of her earthly life had faded.
St. Regina, Virgin and Martyr, Jacques Callot
Brief life
Regina was venerated at Alise as a virgin martyr who chose fidelity to Christ above her own life. Her ancient cult and burial place kept her memory alive in Burgundy, where Christians honored her courage, purity, and constancy under suffering.
The received story says that Regina was raised in the faith by a Christian nurse, tended sheep, rejected the advances of a pagan official, and endured torture before being beheaded. Those scenes come from a later legendary account and cannot be read as contemporary evidence for every detail. The martyr herself, however, is not merely a figure of romance. Her name appears in ancient witness, and the remains at Alise confirm an early place of veneration. The Church therefore honors the real martyr while presenting the fuller story with the restraint its sources require.
Historical note
Regina's early cult at Alise is secure, while the detailed account of her childhood, imprisonment, and martyrdom comes from later tradition.
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