Died 550 AD, Rome, Italy Role Saint | Name Galla Rome Feast 5 October Major shrine Rome | |
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Similar Pope Evaristus, Pope John XII, Pope Innocent VIII, Pope Gregory II, Pope Pius I | ||
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church | ||
Galla of Rome was a 6th-century Roman widow and saint.
Contents
Life
Galla was the daughter of Roman patrician Symmachus the Younger, who was appointed consul in 485. Galla was also the sister-in-law of Boethius. Her father, Symmachus the Younger, was condemned to death, unjustly, by Theodoric in 525. Galla was then married but was soon widowed, just over a year after marriage. It was believed that she grew a beard, to avoid further offers of marriage. Being wealthy, she decided to retreat to the Vatican Hill, and found a hospital and a convent, near St. Peter's Basilica. Galla is reputed to have once healed a deaf and mute girl, by blessing some water, and giving it to the girl to drink. Galla remained there for the rest of her life, tending to the sick and poor, before dying in 550, of breast cancer.
Legacy
A biography of Galla's life is present in the Dialogues, of Saint Gregory the Great. Galla is also believed to be the inspiration for the letter of Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, titled "De statu viduarum". The old church dedicated to St. Galla (named in Roman Dialect "Santa Calla"), was located south of the Piazza Montanara (where now the building of Anagrafe lies) in rione Ripa, but was demolished in the 1930s, to make way for a new road, the Via del Mare. To the church was adjoined an hospice for old people and, due to the, the elderly in Rome get the facetious nickname "Santa Calla". The new church dedicated to St. Galla, located in the Ostiense quarter, was consecrated in 1940. The old church once contained a picture of Our Lady, which represents a vision of Our Lady to St. Galla. It is now placed over the high altar of the church of Santa Maria in Campitelli.
Galla is one of the 140 saints which adorn St. Peter's Square's Colonnade.