St. Bibiana

The Saint of the Day for December 2 is St. Bibiana.

An unauthenticated legend tells us that the saint belonged to a family of martyrs: father, mother, and a sister died for the faith. St. Bibiana was consigned to Rufina, a woman of ill fame, to be perverted; but she, reared from the cradle in the Christian law, kept the bloom of her innocence unstained, proved stronger than her temptress, and defeated all her schemes. After she had ridiculed the trickery of the judge, he ordered her to be tied to a pillar and beaten with leaded whips till she expired. Her holy body, thrown to the dogs, lay two days in the market place but with heavenly protection remained intact. St. Bibiana's basilica on the Esquiline in Rome was constructed during the pontificate of Pope Simplicius (468-483); when alterations in the structure were made by Bernini under Urban VIII in 1625, the body of the saint was found. Her relics and those of her whole family now lie under the high altar.