in the legend as a determined persecutor of the Christians. When he visited Brescia, part of the entertainment provided for him was that two Christian brothers, SS. Fanstns and Jovita, were placed in the arena, to be devoured by lions and leopards; the beasts, however, lay down at the feet of the saints, and defended them from the bears that attacked them. The confessors challenged the Emperor to order the lord of the town and his pagan priests to bring their idol Saturnus into the arena, saying that if he would deliver them, they would worship the Deity. The idol was brought; the bears instantly broke it in pieces, then threw themselves on the priests and the governor, and tore them limb from limb. As soon as Afra heard her husband's fate, she rushed to the amphitheatre and assailed the Emperor with cries and reproaches. She said he had made her a widow, and his god was powerless to help her. She threw herself at the feet of the servants of Christ, and begged them to give her a sign whereby she might believe in the one true God. The Emperor tried in vain to comfort her. He promised her a nobler husband, but she said, "I do not weep for my widowhood, but because my husband has lost his soul." To put a stop to her abuse of his gods, Hadrian broke up the assembly. The two martyrs commanded the wild beasts to conduct Afra safely into the desert, which they did, followed by the bulls which had been turned into the arena to fight with them. Faustus and Jovita were led in bonds to Milan. There they were given for a prey to tigers and bears. These they ordered to go and join the lions and leopards in the deserts, and guard St. Afra until they should be sent for. The beasts obeyed them. The martyrs Faustus and Jovita were dragged hither and thither, and at last came to Borne, where they were again pitted against wild beasts to make sport for the people. The savage creatures humbled themselves at the feet of the saints. The gates flew open, and the beasts that had been despatched from Brescia and Milan appeared, bringing Afra with them. She lifted up her voice, and warned the people to believe in the one true God and to repent of their sins. Faustus and Jovita reminded the Emperor of the circumstances under which he had first seen Afra, and he said she must be a sorceress. The people began to cry out that the God of Faustus and Jovita must be the true God. The two confessors commanded the beasts which had brought Afra to slay those which they found in the Roman amphitheatre. They did so in a moment, and then harmlessly departed. Faustus and Jovita next led Afra to the catacombs, to be baptized by the bishop. (The legend calls him Linus, but Linus was not bishop of Rome at this date.) They then all went to Milan, and thence to Brescia, where the people came out to meet them, and brought them into the city with hymns of joy. They and many of their fellow-Christians were soon condemned to death. The soldiers led them out on the road to Cremona, where they all knelt down. The men were beheaded by gladiators, and Afra was smitten on the head by the guards with their swords, and so completed her happy martyrdom. R.M. May 24. The BoUandists give her Acts, which are manifestly fabulous, on May 23. Her church, on the site of a temple of Saturn, is the oldest ecclesiastical foundation in Brescia. It was entirely rebuilt in the 17th century, and is now, of course, very ugly. Hare, Cities of Italy.
St. Afra (2), Aug. 10, M. Honoured with 11 men, 13 virgins, and seven soldiers. AA,SS.
St. Afra (3), Dec. 18, V. M. Mart. Corbejenae.
St. Afra (4) of Augsburg, Aug. 5 (Abra, Apra, etc.), M. 307. Patron of Augsburg, Meissen, and female penitents. Represented with her hands tied to a stake (Liber Cronicarum); bound to a tree in flames (Ikonographie); surrounded with flames (Die Attribute der Heiligen); boiled in a cauldron (Husenbeth, Emblems); holding a log or faggot, to denote that she was burned alive (Guenebault, Dic. Icon.).
• St. Narcissus, a Spanish Christian priest, and his deacon, Felix, being driven from their own country in the
