Columba of Sens | |
|---|---|
 Main altar of Église Saint-Colombe, Hattstatt, France. The statue on top depicts Columba of Sens (click on picture to enlarge). | |
| Born | c. 257 Gallaecia |
| Died | 273 Sens, Gaul |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholicism |
| Major shrine | Abbey of Sens |
| Feast | December 31 |
| Attributes | she-bear, crowned maiden in chains, with a dog or bear on a chain, holding a book and a peacock's feather, with an angel on a funeral pyre, or beheaded |
| Patronage | Andorra |
Columba of Sens (probably born Eporita, d. 273; Galician: Santa Comba de Sens),[1] was a virgin and nun who was born to a noble pagan family in the northwest of the Iberian Peninsula. She left Gallaecia for Gaul as a child to avoid being denounced as a Christian and received the baptismal name Columba, meaning "dove" in French. She settled in Sens, France, where the Roman emperor Aurelian noticed her and tried to force her to marry his son. When she refused, he imprisoned her. She was protected from being burned alive by a female bear and a miraculous rain shower, but was finally beheaded. Columba was venerated throughout France; a chapel was later built over her relics and the Abbey of Sens, which at one time was a pilgrimage site in her honor, was eventually built there.
Columba is portrayed "as a crowned maiden in chains", with a dog or bear on a chain, holding a book and a peacock's feather, with an angel on a funeral pyre, or beheaded. Her principal attribute is a she-bear. Her feast day is December 31. Her cult was probably a combination of two virgin martyrs, Columba of Spain and Columba of Sens. In 1595, Italian poet and writer Lucrezia Marinella wrote an allegorical Christian epic poem about Columba.
The municipality of Santa Comba, in Galicia, is named after Columba of Sens.
- ^ Lanzi, Fernando; Lanzi, Gioia (2004). Saints and Their Symbols: Recognizing Saints in Art and in Popular Images. Translated by O'Connell, Matthew J. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. p. 80. ISBN 0-8146-2970-9. OCLC 54767407.