Pudentiana is a virgin and martyr of the 2nd century who refused to worship the Roman Emperors Marcus Aurelius and Antoninus Pius as deities. She is sometimes locally known as "Potentiana" and is often coupled with her sister, Praxedes the martyr.
According to her acta and the Martyrology of Reichenau,[2] she was a Romanvirgin of the early church, daughter of Saint Pudens, friend of the Apostles, and sister of Praxedes.
Praxedes and Pudentiana, together with Pope Pius I, built a baptistry in the church inside their father's house, and started to baptize pagans. Pudentiana died at the age of 16, possibly a martyr, and is buried next to her father Pudens, in the Priscilla catacombs on the via Salaria.
While there is evidence for the life of Pudens, there is no direct evidence for either Pudentiana or Praxedes. It is possible that the early Church's Ecclesia Pudentiana (Latin for 'the church of Pudens') was mistaken for "Saint Pudentiana".
Veneration
[edit]Saint Pudentiana, Fresco of the 15th century, from the church of Santa Pudenziana in Narni, Italy
The Spanish ConquistadorMiguel López de Legazpi, the founder of the modern City of Manila, gained possession of the territory on 19 May 1571. As it was the feast of Saint Pudentiana (in Spanish: Potenciana), Legazpi declared her the patroness.[5]
By the Apostolic LetterImpositi Nobis of 12 September 1942, Pope Pius XII, at the request of the Philippine episcopacy, declared the Virgin Mary under the title of the Immaculate Conception as principal patroness of the country, with Saints Pudentiana and Rose of Lima as secondary patronesses, mentioning that historical documents indicated Pudentiana as patroness from the 16th century and Rose of Lima from the 17th.[6]Intramuros, the walled Spanish citadel that was the nucleus of Manila, still has a street that bears her name.[citation needed]
^"III. Insularum Philippinarum Beatissima Virgo Maria Titulo Immaculata Conceptio Primaria Universalisque Patrona et Sanctae Virgines Pudentiana ac Rosa Limana Patronae Secundarias Declarantur" [III. The Most Blessed Virgin Mary of the Philippine Islands with the title Immaculate Conception is declared the Primary and Universal Patroness and the Holy Virgins of Pudentiana and Rosa Limana are declared Secondary Patronesses]. Acta Apostolicae Sedis 1942 [Acts of the Apostolic See] (PDF) (in Latin). pp. 336–337.
^Annuario Pontificio 2013 (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2013 ISBN978-88-209-9070-1), p. 956
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