St. Afra of Augusta
The City of Augusta (now Augsburg ) was situated in the northern part of the Roman Province of Rhtia on the Lech River , not far from its confluence with the Danube . It was an important Roman colony , invested with municipal rights ( municipium ) by Emperor Hadrian , where Christianity had penetrated even before the era of Constantine, as is proved , beyond doubt , the martyrdom of St. Afra . It is an indisputable historical fact that a Christian named Afra was executed in Augsburg during the persecution of Diocletian ( c. 304) by his unshakable faith and profession at an early period her grave was the object of great veneration. The so-called "Martyrologium Hieronymianum "which is a compilation of various calendars and lists of martyrs whose beginnings date from the fourth century, mentions, on 5 August ( in some MSS. , 6 or 7 August) , which suffered in Santa Afra the city of Augsburg and was buried there. In the sixth century in his poem on St. Martin, Venantius Fortunatu...