Saint Febronia of Nisibis
Also known as
- Febronia of Sebapte
Profile
Beautiful young woman at Nisibis, Mesopotamia who had dedicated her life to God. During the persecutions of Diocletian, she was arrested for her faith. She was offered freedom if she would renounce Christianity, marry Diocletian‘s nephew Lysimachus, and stop him from joining the Church; she declined. Tortured, mutilated and murdered. Lysimachus, who had been leaning toward Christianity to begin with, converted along with many of the witnesses to Febronia’s abuse; the judge, Selenus, went insane and killed himself.
This story became immensely popular, and in some of the re-tellings the tortures were described in ghastly detail. However, it was unknown before the 7th century, was embellished each time, and modern scholars believe it is likely to be fiction.
Born
MLA Citation
- “Saint Febronia of Nisibis“. CatholicSaints.Info. 25 July 2022. Web. 24 April 2024. <>