Biography
Felicula
About Felicula
Felicula, also called Felicola, is remembered as a Roman martyr. The Roman Martyrology commemorates her on June 13 and associates her with the seventh mile of the Via Ardeatina outside Rome. Its brief notice records her place in Christian remembrance without supplying an account of her life.
Different calendar dates became attached to her name. Agostino Amore connects February 14 and June notices with this martyr, suggesting that February 14 may have been the earlier anniversary. That is a historical interpretation; it does not establish her date of death.
A later passion story connects Felicula with Petronilla and describes her refusal to abandon her faith, imprisonment, and death. Amore treats that account as legendary and says that her personal history and the period of her martyrdom are not securely known. The story belongs to the history of her devotion rather than a verified sequence of events in her life.
Her name was also honored at Ravenna. In a letter to Castorius, Gregory the Great discusses property belonging to a monastery dedicated to Mark, Marcellinus and Felicula. The regional heritage catalogue dates the letter to June or July 599; it is evidence for an established dedication by then.
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