Saint profile
Felicissima of Todi
About Felicissima of Todi
Felicissima is commemorated as a martyr at Todi in Umbria on May 26 in the current Roman Martyrology. Its notice is brief. It identifies her and the place of commemoration but does not give her birth, work, family, death year, or the circumstances of her martyrdom. A responsible account must begin with that limited record rather than supplying an imagined life.
An older Roman Martyrology named a male Felicissimus with Heraclius and Paulinus at Todi on the same day. A Catholic historical review traces that grouping to variant readings in earlier martyr lists and reports a feminine form for the Todi name in an important manuscript. It places Heraclius and Paulinus in a different tradition. Because the surviving witnesses differ, the present record uses the current martyrology's Felicissima without claiming that every historical variant has been conclusively resolved.
Later writers also proposed links between Felicissima and the martyrs Firmina of Amelia or Illuminata of Todi. Similar stories and nearby cults do not prove that these names belong to one person. Felicissima's enduring place in the Roman Martyrology is clear; a death date, companions, and a detailed martyrdom story are not. Her entry preserves the woman's current commemorated name and the limits of what can be responsibly told.
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