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197 ST. COLUMBA 197 beside n fire, which is being quenched by a cloud. Sometimes called the first martyr of Celtic Oaul. According to the Leggen- dario delle sante vergini^ her martyrdom occurred in the time of Aurelian, at Scenona, a city of that undefined region so often referred to in legends — <' the East." She was confined in one of the cells, called " fomi," or " fomaces," under the amphitheatre, and was there defended from insult and violence by a bear. She was next condemned to be burnt, but the fire was extinguished by an abundant rain, although the weather was fine and the sky clear. Finally she was beheaded. The name she bore in her life is unknown. It is supposed that she was called Colomba from her innocence and gentleness. It is also suggested that the first church was dedicated to the Holy Ghost under the name of Columba, a dove, and that the legend was invented to suit the name. She is one of the favourite saints in France. Legend says she came from Spain to Sens, and there suffered martyr- dom outside the city, where an abbey was afterwards called by her name. There is, however, according to Tille- mont, no authority for fixing Sens as the place of her death. Little is known of her history except that she was a martyr, probably either under Marcus Aurelius, Valerian, or Aurelian. A church dedi- cated in her name existed at Sens in 623, and St. Leu, bishop of Sens in that year, ordered himself to be buried under the oaves of that church that the rain from the gutters might drip on his bones. In the reign of Dagobert there was a chapel in her honour in Paris mentioned by St. Owen in his Life of St. Eloi iEligius). St. Eloi was ordered by )agobert to make a splendid shrine for her, which he did, and ornamented her church at Sens. A Benedictine mon- astery was afterwards built beside the church, and there her relics were kept until they were dispersed by the diabolical fury of the Huguenots. Her chief festival is the 28th of July. The day of her martyrdom, Dec. 31, is shared with other saints. In the F.M, her translation is celebrated Dec. 17. J5.Jtf:, Dec.31. Baillet, F«>^. Tille- mont, Ecdes. Hist. Mentioned in the Martyrology of Usuard, etc., and in the Martyrohgy of TaUaght. St Columba (2), July 20, V. M. of Coimbra. Murdered by her (affianced ?) husband in the Valley das Cellas, near Coimbra, as she was making her escape in order to fulfil a vow of celibacy. Such is the local legend. Sollerius thinks it probable that this is Columba (1). AA.8S. St. Columba (3), or Comba, May I, V. M. f c. 303. Patron saint of Evora. Honoured with her sister, whose name is not known, but who is popularly called St. Anominata, at Tourega, near Evora in Portugal. Their brother, Jordao, was bishop of Evora. In the persecution under Diocletian, Columba was beheaded. Anominata fled, but Jordao brought her back with reproaches for her cowardice, and she had the honour of being beheaded also. On the spot of their execution a fountain sprang up, from which the water is taken to all parts of the kingdom to cure fever. Cardoso, Agiologio Lusitano, According to the AA,SS. Boll., their brother's name was Vincent. St. Columba (4), Sept. l. Becluse in the Abruzzi, honoured with her brothers, St. Nicholas and St. Giles. Supposed by the Bollandists to be the sister of St. Berardus, bishop of lute- ramna. AA.8S., Prmter, St. Columba (5), July 20, V. M. at Interamna, in the diocese of Braga, in Portugal. Mentioned by CaiHoso, Ag, Lu8, AA.SS. St. Columba (6), March 10, V. M. Daughter of King Avitus. Sister of St. Cobdula, and leader of a thousand of the companions of St. Ubsula. Probably the one to whom a church is dedicated in Cornwall. Perhaps same as Columba (9). St. Columba (7), March 29, V. Daughter of Baith and Lucilla. Colgan. St. Columba (8), Colma. St. Columba (9). A holy woman mentioned in a litany used in England in the 7th century, to be found in