St. Rufina

St. Rufina was, according to ancient Roman tradition, one of two sisters — Rufina and Secunda — daughters of a distinguished Roman family who were martyred for the faith during the persecution of the emperor Valerian around the year 257. Betrothed to young pagan noblemen, the sisters refused both marriage and any renunciation of Christ once their suitors abandoned the faith to escape persecution, choosing consecrated virginity and death over apostasy.

The traditional accounts relate that after cruel tortures Rufina was beheaded, together with her sister, and that they were buried on the Via Cornelia outside Rome, where their memory was long venerated; the ancient suburbicarian diocese of Silva Candida came to be known as Santa Rufina in her honor. While some details of their passion belong to later legend, the early cult of the two martyr sisters is well attested, and the Church keeps their memory on 10 July.