Saint Regina of Alise

Regina was a sixteen-year-old girl from Gaul, and in 253 she was tending sheep at the foot of Mount Auxois, in Burgundy, where the oppidum of Alesia is believed to have stood — the one Caesar besieged. She had become a Christian, and according to the story a Roman governor named Olybrius — of whom there is no other record — tried to force himself on her. She resisted, and she also refused the marriage she was offered, because she would have had to give up her faith. She was beheaded. Her cult is attested from the fifth century, and a basilica was built over her tomb, outside the town. In the Middle Ages her martyrdom became the subject of *mystères*, the sacred plays performed in front of churches: in Alise-Sainte-Reine it is still staged every September, and it’s one of the oldest folk traditions in France. Her name has stayed attached to the village, which today is called Alise-Sainte-Reine, and to the fountain that bears her name, where in the seventeenth century a hospital was built for the sick who came to bathe there. In Italy the name Regina is still given, and whoever has it gets two days: this one and August 22, the feast of Mary as Queen. If your name is Regina, today is your name day.