Martyr
Martyr Tatiana of Rome
† ок. 225/226
Martyr Tatiana of Rome — a deaconess, daughter of a secretly Christian thrice-consul, thrown to a lion (who would not harm her) and beheaded together with her father under Emperor Alexander Severus around 225–226.
Saint Tatiana came from a noble family — her father was thrice elected Roman consul while secretly a Christian. She herself was ordained a deaconess of the Roman church, devoting herself to works of mercy and prayer.
Under the regent Ulpian during the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus (222–235), she was seized and subjected to severe torture for refusing to sacrifice to the pagan gods. Tradition holds she was thrown to a lion in the circus, but the beast would not harm her, instead turning on one of her torturers. Having survived further torments, the saint was finally beheaded around 225–226 together with her father.
IMPORTANT NOTE: thorough checking found no independently venerated saint "Tatiana of Syria" in any source — the image file bearing that name appears to be a mislabeled duplicate of this same Tatiana of Rome, not evidence of a separate person.
Her feast is kept on January 12/25 — a day especially honored in Russian tradition as "Tatiana's Day," associated with the founding of Moscow State University in 1755.