Saint Bibiana

Only one thing is known for certain about Bibiana, and it’s documented: that Pope Simplicius, between 468 and 483, consecrated a basilica in Rome dedicated to her, which held her body, near the Palatium Licinianum. The Liber Pontificalis says so. Everything else comes from the *Passio Bibianae*, written in the seventh century, which scholars consider entirely unreliable. That story makes her the daughter of the martyrs Flavian and Dafrosa, and has her killed in Rome under Julian the Apostate, tied to a column and scourged with lead-weighted cords. The church, though, is still there, on Via Giovanni Giolitti, near Termini station. Gian Lorenzo Bernini rebuilt it in 1624–1626: it was his first work of architecture, and he also sculpted the statue of the saint. Inside are frescoes by Pietro da Cortona. Then there’s something that has brought her name to everyone, and it has nothing to do with hagiography. On December 2, across half of Italy, people say that if it rains on Saint Bibiana’s day, it will rain for forty days and a week. It’s one of the most widespread weather proverbs there is, and nobody knows where it comes from. If your name is Bibiana or Vivian, today is your name day.