Today, December 2, is the memorial of Saint Bibiana.
Virgin and martyr.
Also known as Vivian, she was the daughter of Christians: Flavianus, a former prefect who was kicked out by the Roman emperor Julian the Apostate, and Dafrosa. Her parents were both martyred for the faith.
The authorities took away Bibiana and her sister Demetria’s properties, leaving them poor. The sisters stayed in their house, fasted, and prayed. The emperor and his governor Apronianus were angry that the sisters were unaffected. They had Demetria killed first.
Bibiana suffered the most. She was turned over to Rufina, who tried and failed to force Bibiana into prostitution.
An angry Apronianus had her punched, tied to a pillar, and beaten to death with lead plummets. He had Bibiana’s body left out for wild beasts to eat. However, the animals refused to even touch her.
A holy priest John buried her. Later, a church was built over her tomb.
The earliest mention in an authentic historical authority is found in the “Liber Pontificalis,” where the biography of Pope Simplicius (468–483) states that this pope “consecrated a basilica of the holy martyr Bibiana, which contained her body, near the ‘palatium Licinianum’.” The Basilica of Santa Bibiana still stands to this day.