Litany of Saints
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Potamiana

Christian martyr

SaintResearchedPre-congregation

Feast: 28 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)

Born
200
Died
205
Beatified
not needed: before formal processes
Canonised
By tradition
recognised before formal processes began

Who they were

At Alexandria in Egypt, Saints martyrs Plutarch, Serenus, Heraclides a catechumen, Heron a neophyte, and another Serenus, Herais a catechumen, Potamiana and Marcella, her mother, who were all distinguished disciples of Origen and, under the emperor Septimius Severus, confessed Christ, some dying by the sword, others sent to the stake; among them shone in particular the virgin Potamiana, who first endured countless trials in defence of her virginity and finally, after suffering exceptional torments for the faith, was burned at the stake 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 a virgin disciple of Origen at Alexandria, burned at the stake with her mother under Septimius Severus.

Sources

Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.

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