MUSTIOLA, saint, martyr. - She is commemorated in the Martyrologium Hieronymianum on 23 November, whereas in the Roman Martyrology, in agreement with the Passio, on 3 July. M. was a noblewoman of Chiusi, probably the founder of the cemetery bearing her name, one mile from the city, which may date back to the third century.
The Passio relates that in the time of the emperor Aurelian, while the vicar Turcius was persecuting Christians, M. would go by night to the prisons to comfort the confessors of the faith. One day she was accused by a certain Torquatus and brought before the tribunal of Turcius. Having learned that M. was a relative of the emperor Claudius, he tried to persuade her to apostasize, but in vain. To vent his hatred, Turcius then had all the prisoners beheaded, acting with particular fury against the deacon Irenaeus. Seeing such slaughter, M., emboldened, reproached Turcius for his cruelty; she was therefore condemned to be scourged, during which she died. Her body was buried by a certain Marcus outside the city walls, in her cemetery.