Martyr
Martyr Petronilla of Rome
I—II вв. (легендарно)
Martyr Petronilla of Rome — an early Christian saint whose early, well-established martyr cult in Rome itself is confirmed by a 4th-century fresco and a late-4th-century basilica; the later tradition of her kinship with the Apostle Peter is recognized by modern scholarship as a legendary later addition.
HONEST VENERATION AND HISTORICITY CAVEAT: the Orthodox Encyclopedia states explicitly: "the Greek and Russian Churches do not commemorate her" — Petronilla's feast is officially absent from the ROC calendar; the May 31 date is purely Western (Gregorian), with no established Old Style equivalent.
Widespread but historically unreliable legend holds that she was the daughter — biological or spiritual — of the Apostle Peter, whom he reportedly healed of paralysis and then allowed to relapse for her spiritual benefit. According to the story, a pagan nobleman named Flaccus sought her hand; wishing to preserve her virginity for Christ, she refused and soon after died, or was martyred.
A 4th-century fresco in the Catacomb of Domitilla in Rome depicts her as a martyr, and a basilica was built in her honor on the Via Ardeatina by the late 4th century — solid evidence of an early and enduring cult of her as a martyr in Rome itself. However, no early source links her to the Apostle Peter; modern scholars (including the Orthodox Encyclopedia) consider the connection a later legendary accretion arising from the phonetic similarity between "Petrus" and "Petronilla."