Saint Fina
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| Saint Fina | |
|---|---|
| |
| Virgin | |
| Born | 1238, San Gimignano |
| Died | 1253, San Gimignano |
| Major shrine | San Gimignano |
| Feast | March 12 |
| Attributes | Violets, rats, depicted with Saint Gregory the Great, or lying on her wooden board |
| Patronage | Handicapped people |
Saint Fina (Seraphina, Serafina) (1238-1253) was a 13th century Italian saint. Born in San Gimignano, she became ill with an incurable disease at the age of ten. Experiencing five years of enormous suffering, she nevertheless worked at making garments for the poor until paralysis forced her to stop. She then used a wooden board as her bed and increased her mortification of the flesh in order to be nearer to Christ. Her sufferings increased when rats attacked her as she lay alone on her board. She was unable to drive them off.[#endnote_verdiana] She took a vow of chastity, but never became a nun. She lived at home under obedience to the Rule of St. Benedict.
The house where she supposedly lived and died still stands in the town.
Iconography
The Collegiata di San Gimignano has two main chapels, one of which is called the Cappella di Santa Fina, designed by Giuliano da Maiano, with the sculpture by his brother Benedetto. Domenico Ghirlandaio painted the frescoes in the latter chapel.The rat is one of her emblems. She is also depicted with violets. This in reference to the legend that states that after her death, the wooden board upon which she had laid for so long was covered with white violets of great sweetness.
Legends
It is said that after learning of the great sufferings that the 7th century Church Father St. Gregory the Great had endured in his lifetime, Fina became devoted to him. One day, St. Gregory appeared to her and kindly informed her that she would receive eternal rest on the day of his feast day (which once fell on March 12, because he had died on March 12, 604). St Fina thus died on March 12, 1253, and March 12 became her feast day as well.
She is also said to have restored a she restored a choirboy's sight. Her dead hand is also said to have cured her nurse of a serious disease.
Sources
- George Ferguson, Signs and Symbols in Christian Art (New York: Oxford University Press, 1961), 118.
External links
- () [St. Fina]
- () [St. Serafina]
- () [Announcement of Death to St Fina]
- () [The Funeral of St. Fina by Domenico Ghirlandaio]
Notes
- ↑ Similarly, Saint Verdiana was forced to deal with snakes that had infiltrated her cell.
- redirect
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