Saint Reparata

Saint Reparata
Statue of Reparata. Andrea Pisano.
Born	Caesarea Maritima, Palestine
Died	3rd century
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
Major shrine	Claimed by Nice Cathedral, to which relics were translated in 1690
Feast	8 October
Attributes	Standing alone or near the Madonna, bearing the crown and palm as martyr; dove; banner with red cross on white ground; sometimes with Saint Ansanus
Patronage	Nice; Florence

Saint Reparata (Italian: Santa Reparata, French: Sainte Réparate) was a third-century Christian virgin and martyr, possibly mythical, of Caesarea in Palestine. Sources vary as to her age – from 11 to 20 years old – though the Sainte-Réparate cathedral in Nice gives it as 15. She was arrested for her faith and tortured during the persecution of Decius.

Her persecutors tried to burn her alive, but she was saved by a shower of rain. She was then made to drink boiling pitch. When she again refused to apostatize, she was beheaded. Her legend states that as she fell dead, her spirit emerged from her body in the form a dove. Later elaborations of her legend state that her body was laid in a boat and blown by the breath of angels to the bay now known as the Baie des Anges in Nice. A similar tale is associated with the legends of Saint Restituta; Saint Devota, patroness of Monaco and Corsica; and Saint Torpes.

Evidence of her cult does not exist before the ninth century, when her name appears in the martyrology of Bede. She is not mentioned by Eusebius of Caesarea, who recorded the martyrdoms that took place in the Holy Land during the 3rd century.

Her cult became widespread in Europe during the Middle Ages, as evidenced by the multiple Passiones found in various parts of the continent -especially Italy, where her cult was particularly popular in Florence, Atri, Naples, and Chieti. Numerous painters created depictions of her, including Fra Bartolomeo, Arnolfo di Cambio, Andrea Pisano, Domenico Passignano, and Bernardo Daddi.