Priscilla, St.
PRISCILLA, ST.
Priscilla, also known as Prisca, was thought to be a Roman lady of the senatorial family of Acilii Glabriones. Her name is associated with the ancient cemetery on Via Solarea. She is not to be confused with the Prisca mentioned by St. Paul (Rom 16:3; 1 Cor 16:19) and in Acts 18:2, 18–26. In the 5th century there appeared in Rome a titulus Priscae on the Aventine, and this, as in like cases, became at the end of the 6th century Sanctae Priscae. However, in the Martyrology of St. Jerome for January 18, mention is made of a virgin Prisca or Priscilla; in one codex she is called a martyr and in later codices is connected with Rome. The 7th-century Itineraries know a Prisca martyr, buried in the cemetery of Priscilla and in the Sacramentarium Gregorianum there is the Mass of Bl. Priscilla martyr. The present Church of St. Priscilla on the Aventine stands over an ancient sanctuary of Mithras.
Bibliography: p. testini, Le catacombe e gli antichi cimiteri cristiani di Roma (Bologna 1966), 50, 166. a. amore, I martini di Roma (Rome 1976), 66–67.
[e. hoade/eds.]