# Matins Nocturn 2 reading for St. Bibiana, Virgin, Martyr (Dec 2) —
# SanctiM/12-02.txt inherits the whole day (`@Sancti/12-02`) with no
# Nocturn 2 override, so this feast's own proper content is sourced
# from the Tridentine track exactly as for a pre-1955 saint (see
# memory vu-matins-pre1955-saints, vu-matins-sanctim-saints).
# web/www/horas/Latin/Sancti/12-02.txt, English/Sancti/12-02.txt.
# Lectio4-6 combined into one reading, one continuous vita, no
# genuine source break.
id: st-bibiana
readings:
  - nocturn: 2
    isGospel: false
    text:
      la: >-
        Bibiana virgo Romana, nobili genere nata, christiana fide nobilior fuit. Ejus enim
        pater Flavianus sub Juliano Apostata impiissimo tyranno expræfectus, servilibusque
        notis compunctus, ad aquas Taurinas deportatus, martyr occubuit. Mater Dafrosa, et
        filiæ primum conclusæ domi, ut inedia conficerentur; mox relegata mater extra Urbem
        capite plexa est. Mortuis autem piis parentibus, Bibiana cum sorore sua Demetria bonis
        omnibus exspoliatur; Apronianus Urbis prætor, pecuniis inhians, sorores persequitur;
        quas humana prorsus ope destitutas, Deo mirabiliter, qui dat escam esurientibus,
        enutriente, cum vivaciores vegetioresque conspexisset, vehementer est admiratus.


        Suadet nihilominus Apronianus, ut venerentur deos Gentium, amissas ideo opes,
        imperatoris gratiam, præclarissimas nuptias consecuturæ. Si secus fecerint, minatur
        carceres, virgas, secures. At illæ neque blanditiis, neque minis a recta fide
        declinantes, paratæ potius mori, quam fœdari moribus ethnicorum, prætoris impietatem
        constantissime detestantur. Quare Demetria ob oculos Bibianæ repente corruens, obiit
        in Domino: Bibiana Rufinæ mulieri vaferrimæ seducenda traditur, quæ ab incunabulis
        edocta, christianas leges, et illibatum servare virginitatis florem, se ipsa fortior
        feminæ superavit insidias, et prætoris astus delusit.


        Nihil autem proficiente Rufina, quæ, præter dolosa verba, illam quotidie verberibus
        affligebat, ut de sancto proposito dimoveret, spe sua frustratus prætor, accensus ira,
        quod in Bibiana perdidisset operam, a lictoribus eam denudari, vinctisque manibus
        columnæ alligari, eamque plumbatis cædi jubet, donec efflaret animam. Cujus sacrum
        corpus objectum canibus biduo jacuit in foro Tauri, illæsum tamen, et divinitus
        servatum; quod deínde Joannes presbyter sepelivit noctu juxta sepulcrum sororis et
        matris ad palatium Licinianum, ubi usque in præsens exstat ecclesia Deo, sanctæ
        Bibianæ nomine, dicata, quam Urbanus octavus instauravit, sanctarum Bibianæ,
        Demetriæ, et Dafrosæ corporibus in ea repertis, et sub ara maxima collocatis.
      en: >-
        Bibiana was a Roman maiden, distinguished on account of the nobility of her family,
        but now far more distinguished for her confession of Christ. In the reign of the foul
        tyrant, Julian the Apostate, her father Flavian, although he was an ex-Praefect, was
        branded as a slave and banished to Acquapendente, not far from Rome, where he soon
        died a martyr for his faith. His wife, Dafrosa, and his two daughters, Bibiana and
        Demetria, were first imprisoned in their own house, with the idea of starving them to
        death; but the mother was afterwards taken outside the city and beheaded. Bibiana and
        her sister Demetria, after the death of their holy parents, were stripped of all they
        had in the world. Apronianus, Praetor of the city, who hankered after their property,
        continued to persecute them, but although they were destitute of all human support,
        God, Who giveth bread to the hungry, fed them, and kept them in health, life, and
        strength, to the wonder of their enemies.


        Apronianus then attacked them, to make them worship the gods of the Gentiles, and
        promised them the restoration of their property, the favour of the Emperor, and a
        great marriage for each of them, if they would give way, and, on the other hand,
        imprisonment, stripes, and death. But neither promises nor threats availed, for they
        remained firm in the faith, being resolved rather to die than to pollute themselves by
        doing according to the deeds of the heathen; and, as for the iniquity of the Praetor,
        they loathed it continually. At length the strength of Demetria gave way, and she fell
        down suddenly, and died in the Lord, before the eyes of her sister Bibiana. Then
        Bibiana was put into the hands of an artful woman named Rufina, to seduce her if
        possible; but she had known the law of Christ from her childhood, and kept the lily of
        her purity undefiled, triumphing over the efforts of that vile person, and
        disappointing the lust of the Praetor.


        Then, when Rufina saw that her false words availed not, she took to blows, and
        scourged Bibiana daily, but the saint was not staggered in her holy resolution. At
        last the Praetor, mad with baffled lust, when he found his labour was thrown away,
        ordered his lictors to strip her naked, hang her up by the hands to a pillar, and flog
        her to death with whips weighted with lead. When all was over, her sacred body was
        thrown out for the dogs to eat. It lay two days in the Forum Tauri, but the animals
        would not touch it; and, at last, a Priest, named John, took it, and buried it by
        night beside the graves of her mother and sister, near the Licinian Palace. This is the
        place where there is still a church, dedicated in the name of St. Bibiana. When this
        church was being restored by Urban VIII., the bodies of these three holy women,
        Bibiana, Demetria, and Dafrosa, were found, and were re-buried under the High Altar.
    status: { la: verified, en: verified }
