Saint Patricia of Constantinople

Patricia was born in Constantinople around 664, into a wealthy, noble family that, according to tradition, was related to the imperial house. What we know about her comes from late sources, based on what the nuns of her community passed down by word of mouth. The story says the emperor wanted to force her into marriage. She fled to Rome with her nurse Aglaia and had herself consecrated by the pope. Back home after her father’s death, she gave up every claim to the throne, gave her inheritance to the poor and set out as a pilgrim for the Holy Land. During the voyage a storm drove the ship toward the coast of Campania, and Patricia landed in Naples. There she stayed, and there she died very young, on August 25, 685. She is co-patron of Naples, and Neapolitans care about her for a very specific reason. As with San Gennaro, a vial of her blood is kept; and like his, it liquefies. Except that Patricia’s blood doesn’t liquefy three times a year: it liquefies every Tuesday, and on August 25. Tradition traces it back to the very day of her death, when — the story goes — a devotee pulled out one of her teeth and blood flowed from it. The monastery of the Augustinian nuns that keeps her still stands in the old center of the city, at San Gregorio Armeno. If your name is Patricia, today is your name day.