Liberata
Saint venerated as virgin and martyr (saints day 11 January)
Feast: 11 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Saint Liberata was one of nine twin sisters born to Calsia, wife of Lucio Catelio Severo, a former Roman consul and governor of north-east Iberia in 122. Ashamed at such a large birth, the mother wanted to drown the babies in the sea, but the Christian midwife charged with this refused and baptised them, naming one of them Liberata. After many trials, all the sisters died as martyrs under the persecution of the emperor Hadrian.
Devotion to the nine sisters was spread from 1564 by the bishop of Tuy, and in 1688 another bishop ordered their feast to be kept. Liberata's body is kept in the cathedral of Sigüenza, Spain; she is venerated as one who takes away sad thoughts and brings peace and serenity.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: she has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
One of nine sister-martyrs who died under the persecution of Hadrian; venerated to relieve sorrow and bring peace; feast 11 January.
- Santi, beati e testimoni (santiebeati.it) - Sante Ginevra, Vittoria, Eufemia, Germana, Marina, Marciana, Basilisa, Quiteria e Liberata
- Wikidata Q48832791 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.