Saints Faustinus and Jovita

Faustinus and Jovita were two young noblemen from Brescia, probably brothers, who lived in the second century. They had taken up a military career and become knights: men from an important family, with a road already laid out in front of them. They were converted by Bishop Apollonius, who baptized them and welcomed them into the city’s Christian community. They got to work right away, and with success: they were such effective preachers that the bishop made Faustinus a priest and Jovita a deacon. And it was that very success that ruined them. The leading men of Brescia, watching Christianity spread, asked the governor of Raetia, Italicus, to get them out of the way — on the pretext of public order. There was a pause, because in the meantime the emperor Trajan died and the governor preferred to wait. Then Hadrian ordered him to go ahead. The two refused to sacrifice to the gods and ended up in prison. The emperor, on his way back from a campaign in Gaul, stopped in Brescia, had the whole affair told to him and asked the two young men in person to worship the Sun God. Not only did they refuse: **they struck the statue**. They were thrown to the beasts in the circus. They died sometime between 120 and 134. They are the patrons of Brescia and its diocese. And there is a tradition in Brescia that makes people smile: Saint Faustinus is considered the patron saint of singles — which is why, in those parts, February 14 isn’t the only day that counts. If your name is Faustino or Faustina, today is your name day. Two young men who had everything they needed for a quiet career, and chose to stand up against their own city.