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164 164 ST. PRAXEDIS Diocletian, openly to exile from Borne, but secretly to be put to death at Ostia and thrown into the sea, Claudius and Maximns being too popular and influ- ential to be publicly executed in Borne. B.M. AA.SS,, " St. Susanna, Feb. 18." Marty rum Acta, St. Praxedis (l), sometimes called in French P^busette or Perusseau ; in Italian, Puassede. Commemorated with her sister St. Pudentiana, May 19 and July 21. Probably second half of 2nd century. Bepresented with a sponge (to signify that they gathered up the blood of the martyrsl a vase, a lamp, spices for embalming, or a bundle of twigs. In a mosaic of the 9th centui*y in the church of St. Praxedis in Bome, she is being presented to Christ by St. Paul, while on the other side St. Pudentiana is pre- sented to Him by St. Peter. Some of the legends say they wore the daughters of SS. Pudens and Claudia (1), mentioned by St. Paul (2 Tim. iv. 21) ; that St. Peter lodged in their house when he was in Bome ; and that they had two brothers, SS. Timothy and Novatus. But it is more probable that they were the daughters of another Pudens, a senator, and that they lived in the second century. Their mother is sometimes called St. Sabinella. After their father's death they had a great deal of property, part of which was at the foot of the Esquiline hill and was covered with houses and baths. They helped and comforted the perse- cuted Christians by every means in their power, burying the martyrs in caves under their own house and collecting their blood in a well by means of a sponge. They had all their servants — ninety-eight in nnmber — baptized by Pius I., who was pope from 141 to 167. In consequence of a decree of tbeEmperor Antoninus, that the Christians were to have no temples but to worship God in their own houses, Pius used to say mass in the house of these two sisters, where there was an oratory called in their biography a title. It afterwards became a parish church and is considered the oldest in the world. It anciently bore the name of the Church of the Pastor and is now called by the name of Sania Prassede. In the chapel of Sta. Pras- sede, near the door of this church, a long marble table, protected by a grating of iron, is set into the wall, and bears this inscription: ^*on this marble slept the holy V. Praxede." Here is also a well surrounded by a railing, where St. Praxedis preserved the remains of the martyrs and into which she poured the blood which she had collected with a sponge. Their life purports to be written by a holy pastor, an eye-witness of their good works ; supposed to be Hormas, disciple of the Apostles, or Hermes, brother of Pope Pius I. ; but Baillet says the document was forged some centuries later and boars no sign of authenticity. B,M. AA.SS, Butler. BaUlet Mrs. Jameson. Villegas. King. Bleser, Bome et 8€8 Monuments. St. Praxedis (2), "a pretended queen,*' honoured July 21 as one of the companions of St. Ursula. Baillet. St. Praxedis (3), July 10 or Aug. 6 (EuFRASiA, EuPRAXiA, Called by the Saxons Adelaide, and by some writers Agnes), + 1109. Daughter of Vsevolod, grand-prince of Bussia (1078-1093), and great -grand -daughter of Yaroslav the great. She married first Henry, mar- grave of the Nordmark, a member of the family of the counts of Stad : he died in 1087, and a year afterwards she became the second wife of the Emperor Henry IV. He treated her very badly. She escaped from his custody and sought the protection of the Countess Matilda, who was glad to avail herself of the weapon which Praxedis^s charges against her husband put into the hands of his enemies. Matilda recommended her to Pope Urban II., who advised her return to her own country. The synod of Placentia, in March, 1095, was greatly occupied with the case. The dreadful accusations were never proved or dis- proved; but the Pope and his party took the side of Praxedis against their enemy the emperor. After his death, she went, in 1106, into a convent at Eiew. According to Giesebrecht, she died there. Others say she died Abbess