Marcella of Alexandria
mother of Potamiaena and martyr
Feast: 28 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
At Alexandria in Egypt, the holy martyrs Plutarch, Serenus, Heraclides a catechumen, Heron a neophyte, and another Serenus, Herais a catechumen, Potamiaena and Marcella her mother, who were all distinguished disciples of Origen and, under the emperor Septimius Severus, confessed Christ, some of them dying run through with the sword, others sent to the fire; among them the virgin Potamiaena shone out in particular, who first endured countless trials in defence of her virginity and at last, after suffering exceptional torments for the faith, was burned on the pyre together with her mother.
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
The Roman Martyrology remembers her on 28 June as the mother of the virgin Potamiaena, burned on the pyre with her daughter at Alexandria.
- Roman Martyrology, 28 June (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata R19e13036 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.