PULCHERIA, Saint. - She is commemorated by the Greek and Latin Martyrologies on September 10.
Daughter of the emperor Arcadius, born on January 19, 399, she consecrated her virginity to God, inducing her two sisters to do the same; and although living at court, she led an austere life in
[he] obtained the chair of Sacred Scripture. Forced by political events to take refuge in the monastery of Praglia, he remained there until 1810, then stayed with his brother Domenico. His fame is linked to his writings against the devotions of the Way of the Cross and of the Sacred Heart: Sei lettere ai compilatori del «Giornale letterario» di Venezia, in Raccolta di opuscoli interessanti la religione (vol. XII, Pistoia 1786); Riflessioni sopra l'origine, la natura, e il fine della devozione al S. Cuore di Gesù (Naples 1780); Lettera di un teologo ai signori estensori delle «Effemeridi letterarie di Roma» in difesa di una dissertazione sul ritorno degli Ebrei alla prayers and good works. On July 4, 414, after the death of her father, she was acclaimed Augusta and regent for her young brother Theodosius II, who had assumed the Empire, to whom she gave in marriage Athenais, converted to Christianity by her own doing, who took the name Eudocia. She labored greatly in building churches, hospitals, hospices for pilgrims, monasteries, and above all for the good conduct of the Councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, earning flattering praise from St. Leo the Great and from all the ancient historians. In conflict with her brother the emperor, badly advised by his courtiers, for some time she was forced to live in exile; but when Theodosius died (450) without heirs, P. was recognized as empress. She at once associated with herself the aged senator Marcian, whom she married shortly afterward, on his promise to preserve her virginity. She then purged the court of the wicked counselors of Theodosius, beginning with Chrysaphius, the primary cause of all the evil deeds of the deceased Emperor. She died on September 10, 453, leaving all her private possessions to the poor; she was buried in the church of the Apostles.
Bibliography5 works
Agostino Amore