Saint Prisca

Saint Prisca was a young Roman girl martyred for her Christian faith, honored as a saint in the Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican traditions. According to legend, she came from a noble family and was baptized by Saint Peter at the age of thirteen. When Emperor Claudius ordered her to sacrifice to the god Apollo, she refused, and was beaten and imprisoned for her faith. Thrown to a lion in the amphitheater, she was left unharmed as the beast quietly lay down at her feet. After enduring starvation, torture on the rack, and fire, she was finally beheaded on the road from Rome to Ostia. Scholars distinguish her from the Priscilla of the New Testament, companion of the Apostle Paul. Venerated especially in England as a child martyr, her feast day is January 18.