Apollonia, Saint, Martyr

APOLLONIA, Saint, Martyr. - An Alexandrian virgin, martyred in Alexandria in Egypt during a local uprising against the Christians, shortly before the outbreak of the persecution of Decius (248-49). An account of her is given by St. Dionysius, bishop of the city and witness of the events that took place, in a letter to Fabius, bishop of Antioch, of which extensive extracts have been handed down by Eusebius of Caesarea (Hist. eccl., VI, 41). After speaking of the sufferings of other Christians, Dionysius mentions those of A., an admirable virgin; seized, her teeth were broken by dint of blows inflicted on her face. A pyre having then been lit outside the city, the pagans threatened to burn her alive if she refused to utter blasphemous words. Having been granted, at her request, a moment of freedom, A. took advantage of it to throw herself into the fire, where she met her death. In the eyes of Dionysius, A. was a martyr and as such was venerated in the Alexandrian Church. Speaking of suicide, St. Augustine (De civ. Dei, I, 26) also deals with the case of those Christians who spontaneously embraced the death prepared for them, justifying their act. In any case the Church has made no distinction and in its cult has joined such martyrs with the others. Venerated also in the West, A. was invoked by popular devotion as patroness against toothache. Later legends make A. a Roman martyr under Julian the Apostate. The name of A. was introduced into the Martyrology of Florus, under the date of 20 Feb., later modified with equal arbitrariness by Ado, who moved it back to 9 Feb., which is the date of the current commemoration.

Mario Scaduto

ICONOGRAPHY

She is generally represented in youthful appearance, with the generic attributes of martyrdom and with the specific one of pincers and a tooth, which allude to her passion and to the particular devotion paid to her by those suffering from toothache. From the late Middle Ages up to the Baroque era, representations by Italian artists (Luini, Granacci, C. Dolci) and Northern artists (Fouquet, Jordaens, G. Crayer, Willmann) abound. The particular popularity of the saint is proved by her numerous representations in graphic art, from woodcut and engraving incunabula to eighteenth-century devotional images.

Kurt Rathe

FOLK TRADITIONS

With reference to the best-known episode of her martyrdom, St. Apollonia is invoked by the people for the healing of toothache. Her legend inspired a short prayer-incantation, a narrative song and a Tuscan sacred play, of which notices survive that go back to the fifteenth century.