SINFOROSA (Sympherousa, Συμφέροθσα = the Helper), Saint, Martyr. - Fr. Delehaye held that seven saints buried nearby or venerated on the same day were turned into brothers and attributed to St. Symphorosa as her sons, repeating the case of St. Felicity, as Cesare Baronio had already suspected (Acta SS. Iulii, III, p. 7; IV, p. 252).

Her Passio makes her the mother of seven sons (BHL, 7971), as is also read in the Passiones of Getulius (who would have been her husband) and of Zoticus (op. cit., 3524-25; 9028); the indication returns in the Jeronymian Martyrology under 18 July, pointing to their tomb at the eighth mile of the Via Tiburtina (ed. Delehaye-Quentin, p. 383); the seven are noted on the Via Tiburtina without mention of the mother, both under 29 May (ibid., pp. 280-81) and under 27 June, at the ninth mile; there, however, their names are given: Crescens, Julian, Nemesius, Primitivus, Justinus, Stacteus, Eugenius (op. cit., pp. 337-38). These names recur in the Itinerarium de locis (with the addition of an Irenaeus) as buried in the Basilica adjacent to the one ad corpus of St. Lawrence in the Agro Verano (R. Valentini - G. Zucchetti, Codice topografico della città di Roma, II, Rome 1942, p. 114). The Roman Martyrology notes the group under 18 July.

The ruins are still visible at the 14th km. of the Via Tiburtina, where the tribune of the larger Basilica still stands and traces of other parts of the two buildings can be made out. And this is what was spared from the destruction carried out by the Lombards of Astolf. In anticipation of the devastation, Pope Stephen III (a. 752-57) had the relics of those martyrs removed and brought to Rome; Pius IV found them beneath the high altar of the deaconry of S. Angelo in Pescheria, in the Portico of Octavia. The exploration and study of the foundation and of the remains of the two small Basilicas was carried out by E. Stevenson in 1878. Near those ruins there now stands a small church dedicated to the holy martyrs; the locality is called St. Symphorosa; in the Middle Ages it was called Sette Fratte, a correction of ad Septem Fentres.

Bibliography5 works

BIBL.: E. Stevenson, Scoperta della basil. di S. S. e dei suoi sette figli al nono miglio della Via Tiburtina, in Studi in Italia, Rome 1878; id., La bas. doppia di S. S... in Ball. arch. crist., 3rd series, 3 (1878), pp. 75-81; G. Coccanari, Il martirio di s. S. e dei sette figli, in Ball. di Studi di stor. ed archeol. di Treoli, 9 (1926), p. 1097 ff.; H. Delchaye, Les origines du culte des martyrs, 2nd ed., Brussels 1933, pp. 278-79; id., Etude sur le légendier romain, ibid. 1936, pp. 121-23.

Gioacchino Mancini

@incollection{ec11_sinforosa_sympherousa_sumphero, author = {Mancini, Gioacchino}, title = {Sinforosa (Sympherousa, συμφέρουσα = la soccorritrice), santa, martire}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {700--701}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/sinforosa-sympherousa-sumpherousa-la-soccorritrice-santa-martire} }

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Sinforosa, Saint, Martyr

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