The sensitive to art, Pope Urban VIII, having just begun his long, extensive, over twenty-year-long pontificate, took advantage of the fact of the miraculous discovery of the tomb of Bibiana, in order to, in an almost royal way decorate the church interior, where her earthly remains were put to rest. The saint’s vita   was illustrated on the church walls, while the sculpture found in the main altar (Statue of St. Bibiana) was to remind all of this saint and stimulate thoughts about the sacrifice of the first Christians and their unwavering faith. It is for those decorations, created by two still very young, but very promising artists (Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona), that this church is visited by tourists – enthusiasts of Baroque art.

Who was Bibiana? She is first mentioned in the description of the life of Pope Simplicius (468-483), in the famous Liber Pontificalis. From it we learn that the pope founded a church commemorating Bibiana, her mother and her sister. And that really is all, that we know about her. There are no historical sources – either those concerning a martyr’s death or her life. However, when there is a lack of facts, there is room for legends. The tragic fate of Bibiana was described in a typically hagiographic way in the VII century in Passio Bibianae. She was to have been born during the reign of the favorably disposed to Christians, Emperor Constantine the Great, and was to have been the daughter of a Christian – a Roman prefect Flavianus and Dafrosa from a consul family. When the reign of the anti-Christian Emperor Julian the Apostate began, the respected parents provided shelter for persecuted faithful. Flavianus – imprisoned by the soulless Apronianus, his successor at the post of prefect and bitter enemy, died due to tortures inflicted upon him. The unwavering in her faith Dafrosa met a similar fate, as was fit for a high-born Roman she was beheaded. Their daughters, Demetria and Bibiana could have saved themselves, if they had decided to honor pagan deities, however their resistance was unbreakable, despite starvation and imprisonment, as well as tortures. Demetria was the first to succumb to death. Bibiana charmed Apronianus to such an extent, that he desired to save the girl. He sent Rufina to visit her, a known madam. However, when her attempts to convince her to marry came to nothing, Apronianus turned to intimidation (Bibiana was sent to a brothel to force her to commit corporeal sin), but this also did not bring about the desired effect of the girl renouncing her faith. Having been tied to a column and whipped with a whip  with lead plummets, she died four days later. As a warning her body was thrown onto the square for dogs to feast on. Untouched it was taken by a priest named John, while she was buried near the grave of her mother and sister by a certain Olympina, a relative of Bibiana. And she was apparently also the one who founded (according to the legend) a church dedicated to her.

The time of her death is given as somewhere between 361-363, meaning the time of the short reign of Emperor Julian the Apostate, who desired to bring the old faiths back to Rome, and thus weaken the widespread and protected by his predecessors Christianity. Historical sources often claim that he generally did not resort to violence, believing that martyrdom strengthens the resistance of Christians rather than breaking it. He rather attempted to discourage Christianity not persecute it. This period was known as a return to paganism – short and marginal, it did however, give rise fear and anxiety in Christians and it is on that ground that the legend about our heroine was born. Bibiana became a symbol of unwavering faith, which in face of attaining eternal salvation cannot be put down by any loss of earthly possessions, even life.

The column, at which she was whipped, still today visible behind a metal grate at the enterance to the church, as well as a whip, dagger, and…mint became the attributes of Bibiana. There are also those who, in the plant connected with the martyr see hemp-agrimony (commonly encountered on wastelands at that time) – an herb used in treating epilepsy. This is probably because, news spread that powder scrapped off the column, mixed with an extract from a plant picked near the place of Bibiana’s burial helps those afflicted with epilepsy. In time the saint also became the patron of the mentally ill, alcoholics, as well as those who suffer from any kind of pain, including hangover. Interestingly enough, the church is located near the Roman Temple of Minerva Medica, whose ruins are still visible today. The healing properties of Bibiana apparently came from referring to the divine, albeit pagan powers of Minerva.

Without a doubt, noble birth, young age, youthful beauty, resolve, and an ever-present erotic thread were the most important elements out of which the legend of the martyr was constructed in the Middle Ages and these were also repeated in Modernity. Today, soap operas are based on similar motifs, only the age of the girls is higher, since nobody would dare to have girls between 11-16 years old play these roles, and that was more or less the age of Bibiana.

At the present nobody remembers Bibiana, whose feast falls on the 2nd of December. If that was not enough, she was removed from the official register of saints, although a folk saying remained which says that if it rains on the feast of St. Bibiana, it will also rain four weeks after that day.