upwards of ninety, much beloved and regretted by all the inhabitants of the town and surrounding country. Many miracles were wrought through her intercession, both before her death and since. Henschenius in AA.SS. Saussaye. Menardus, May 10. Bucelinus. Eckenstein.
St. Eustella, May 21, April 30, V. M Daughter of a regulus (chieftain) at Saintes, in Gaul. Converted by St. Eutropius, first bishop of Saintes, and mentioned in his Life (April 30). Commemorated by Saussaye and Arturus, but not found in the early calendars. Martin, in his French Martyrology, says that she buried St. Eutropius, and was tortured and put to death by her father, and buried near Eutropius. Saussaye, Mart. Gal., May 21. AA.SS., May 21, April 30, Præter.
A fountain in the amphitheatre at Saintes bears the name of St. Eustelle; girls visit it on her festival. May 21, and throw in pins, from which they derive omens of matrimony. An article on the Antiquities of Saintes, by the late Mr. S. S. Lewis, Athæneum, July 10, 1886.
St. Eustochia (l), Nov. 2. + 362. V. M. at Tarsus, in Cilicia. On a great occasion, in the time of Julian the Apostate, a general order was given that every one should sacrifice to Venus. Eustochia refused, and, animated by her example, many others refused also. She was scourged with nerves, and while undergoing this punishment, exclaimed, "How sweet are wounds that purchase eternal life!" She was hung up by the hair, nails were driven into her head, she was cut and torn to pieces alive, shouting and thanking God at each new torture that was ordered. Parts of her flesh were eaten by human beings, parts thrown to pigs. Her mother, also called Eustochia, took the remains of the martyr away by night, and buried them in a new sepulchre in a cave. AA.SS.
St. Eustochia (2), Feb. 13, † 1469, V. Nun at Padua, of the congregation of Mount Olivet. Daughter of a wicked nun. She was vexed by the devil all her life, but not overcome by him. She had a heavenly contempt for the dignities and advantages of the world, and is praised in the writings of Peter Baroccio, bishop of Padua, her contemporary. She was worshipped at St. Prosdocimus, in Padua, but Henschenius doubted whether her worship was sanctioned by the Popes. Bucelinus, Men. Ben. AA.SS., Præter.
B. Eustochia (3), or Smaragda de Calafato, Feb. 27 or 28, March 2. 1484, O.S.F. Of an ancient noble family of Catania. Daughter of Bernard and Matilda, count and countess of Calafato. She was christened Smaragda. She was twice betrothed, but each time her marriage was prevented by the death of the bridegroom. In 1446 she took the veil and the name of Eustochia, in the convent of St. Clara, at Messina, which obeyed the mitigated rule of the Urbanists. After eleven years in this convent she founded another, which was to be of the original strict rule of St. Clara, under the friars of the observance. Her mother and sister built this house for her at their own expense. One of her sisters, and a niece of eleven years old, entered with Eustochia in 1457, and in 1460 she became abbess at thirty years of age. She was distinguished by every virtue and by the grace of miracles. She died Jan. 11, 1484, at the age of fifty-four. Three days after her burial, some of the nuns were praying at her tomb. They heard a knocking within, and opening the grave, they found the body like that of a living person. Her worship began immediately, and was approved by Pius VII. (1800-1823). She cures many sick persons, and the inhabitants of Messina seek her aid in time of earthquakes. A.R.M., Mart. Seraphici ordinis, March 2. Mart, Romano-Seraphici ordinis, Feb. 27 or 28. Léon, Auréole Seraphique.
B. Eustochia (4), or Eustachia, of Ferrara, Jan. 24. 1508. O.S.D. Nun at the convent of St. Catherine (3) of Siena (Convento delle Sanesi), at Ferrara. She was wasted to a skeleton by a long illness. A short time before her death she had an ardent desire to see her Saviour as a new-born child. After three days of weeping and praying, her wish was gratified : she not only saw the holy Infant, but took Him up and kissed
