Verena

Verena a virgin who is said to have accompanied the Thebaic legion of Mauritius, in the 3d century, from Upper Egypt to the West, either as the kinswoman of Mauritius or as the bride of Victor, who was one of the soldiers. She tarried at Milan in the house of a certain Maximus, and there learned the fate of the legion, but, nevertheless, followed it to 'Helvetia. She settled in the vicinity of Solothurn, obtaining a livelihood by personal labor, and aiding, not without the performing of many wonders, in the work of converting the Alemanni. Her zeal in this latter work led to her imprisonment by a Roman praetor; but her confinement was cheered by a visit from the sainted Mauritius, and the praetor himself was soon compelled to seek relief from a severe illness at her hands. After liberation she removed to the junction of the Aar and the Rhine, and by her miraculous power expelled every snake from an island which these reptiles had overrun. She died at Zurzach, near Costnitz, where her remains yet repose. The legend is wholly, dependent on the thoroughly mythical tradition of Mauritius and the Thebaic legion (q.v.). See Rettberg, Kirchengesch. Deutschlands, 1, 108 sq.; also Martyrol. Notkeri in Canisius, Lect. Antiq. 2, 3, p. 170, and the Bolland. Acta SS. 1, in each case under Sept. 1, Herzog, Real-Encyklop. s.v.