July 24th - St. Christina of Bolsena By: Venassa Jijo

St. Christina lived during the third century and was the daughter of a rich and powerful judge. Saint Christina was beautiful and attracted many suitors but at the age of 11, her father decided that he wanted her to be a pagan priestess (a religion other than one of the main world religions, specifically a non-Christian or pre-Christian religion). To make her meet his wishes, he locked her in a room filled with gold and silver idols and ordered her to burn incense before them. Saint Christina often peered out her window to take a look at the outside world and realized that there must be a powerful and great creator of the world. She would look at the idols she was stuck with and came to believe that they were false since they were made by man. She began to pray to the creator of the world and asked him to reveal himself to her. That was when she felt an intense fire from deep within her heart. An angel came to St. Christina and taught her the Gospel of Christ. St. Christina smashed the false idols and threw them through the window. When her father came to visit and discovered the missing idols, he questioned St. Christina but she refused to speak to him. He later learned of her new faith and slapped her face until she spoke. She only spoke of her new faith and admitted to destroying the idols. Her father beat her and threw her in prison. Her mother visited her and pleaded for her to change her faith - Christina refused. 
The next day, she was taken to trial and was told to plead for forgiveness but she didn’t. As a result, her father ordered her to be tortured. She was tied to an iron wheel above an extreme fire. As she was raked through the flames, her body was burned but she did not die. Saint Christina was thrown into a prison cell and that night an angel appeared. Her wounds were healed that night. Her father found her the next day, unharmed, and ordered a stone to be tied around her neck and she was thrown into a lake. As she sank, an angel untied her and she reappeared, alive, above the water. Finally, he decided to execute her the following morning but he suddenly died the night before. During her imprisonment and torture, Saint Christina converted nearly 300 people. She was eventually killed by a sword after surviving 5 days in a burning furnace. Christina’s story teaches us that having trust in the Lord will always prevail no matter how tough and painful life may be.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER
Saint Christina, you were subjected to torture and harsh conditions and still maintained your trust in the Lord. Help us to stay faithful and strong in times of struggle as you did. Watch over us in times of need, protect us, hear our prayers. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.