D

Turning grief into prayer and service.

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January 4 · Widow, Confessor

St. Dafrosa

St. Dafrosa

Turning grief into prayer and service.

Traditional feast

January 4
1914 / pre-1969 calendar, per Baring-Gould (1914)

Current feast

Not verified yet

Represents

Widow
Confessor

Their story

Adapted in modern English from Baring-Gould (1914) · original text below · little is known

Dafrosa was the wife of the martyr Flavian and suffered under Julian the Apostate (the emperor who abandoned Christianity). Apronianus, prefect of Rome, sentenced her with her daughters Demetria and Bibiana, and Flavian was martyred first.

She was sent to the house of a man named Faustus, who wanted to marry her. She refused, and instead converted him; he was baptized and then executed, his body thrown to the dogs. Dafrosa secretly buried it at night. In a dream Flavian called her to follow him, and five days later she died while praying.

Early life

The book says little or nothing about early life. This is how the account begins.

Thin entry · the 1914 book gives only 155 words. We have not filled the gap with invented detail.

This Saint was the wife of S. Flavian, a martyr. She was one of the few who suffered in the reign of Julian, the Apostate; having been sentenced by Apronianus, præfect of the city, in Rome, along with her daughters, Demetria and Bibiana. S. Flavian, her husband, was crowned on the 22nd December; and she followed him shortly.

What they represent

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. Turning grief into prayer and service.

Read more

The full original · 155 words

Read Baring-Gould’s full account

Baring-Gould’s sources: Mentioned in Roman Martyrology, and in those of Bede, Ado, Notker, Maurolycus, &c. All known of her is contained in the Martyrologies.

This Saint was the wife of S. Flavian, a martyr. She was one of the few who suffered in the reign of Julian, the Apostate; having been sentenced by Apronianus, præfect of the city, in Rome, along with her daughters, Demetria and Bibiana. S. Flavian, her husband, was crowned on the 22nd December; and she followed him shortly. She was sent to the house of a certain Faustus, who desired to have her in marriage; but she refused to become his wife, and converted him to the faith. He was baptized by S. John the priest, who is commemorated on June 23rd. Faustus was executed, and his body cast to the dogs; but Dafrosa saved it, and buried it secretly at night. Then, in a dream, her husband Flavian appeared to her, and called her to follow him. And at the expiration of five days, whilst engaged in prayer, she migrated to her heavenly country.

Feast days

Feast: January 4

Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Dafrosa's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Also on January 4
T

St. Titus

January 4 · Bishop
R

St. Rumon

January 4 · Bishop, Confessor
G

St. Gregory of Langres

January 4 · Bishop
← All 1726 saints in the library
Sources & notes

Feast-day sources

Story sources

Sources

Credits

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new and revised edition (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914; first edition 1872). Public domain.

From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new and revised edition (Edinburgh: John Grant, 1914; first edition 1872). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.