Their story
Adapted in modern English from Baring-Gould (1897) · original text below · little is known
This is told as a tale of long ago. Matrucus, a pagan Gothic duke of Friuli, built a castle above Serravalle, whose people were Christian. His daughter Augusta was drawn to their faith and was secretly baptized.
Her behaviour roused his suspicion, and he set spies to watch her. Told one day that she was praying in the church, he burst in, dragged her out, and locked her in a room of the castle. In a rage he beat out her teeth and killed her with his sword, accusing her of shaming the gods of their ancestors.
Early life
Selected sentences from the original account, unaltered.
Thin entry · the 1897 book gives only 196 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.
He had a daughter named Augusta, young and fair, and her heart turned from the fierce gods of Germany to the Christ whom the bruised and suffering people of Serravalle adored, and to His spotless Mother, so pure and loving.
How they teach us to live
Drawn from themes in the original account
Share your faith, in words and by example. Preaching and conversion are central here.
Pray a little every day. Prayer runs all through this account.
Learn from the kind of life it was. Faithfulness to Christ when it cost everything.