St. Fausta lived in the third century near what is now Serbia. She was a model mother because she raised her daughter to be a saint: St. Anastasia of Sirmium, whose feast day falls on Christmas, Dec. 25.

Both of these saints are subjects of special veneration: St. Fausta is one of the 140 saints depicted in sculpture in the colonnade surrounding St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican; St. Anastasia is one of seven women mentioned in the Eucharistic prayer in the Mass.

The relics of St. Fausta and of her daughter, St. Anastasius, rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica. The image used here depicts St. Anastasius, and is used by permission of Catholic.org.

St. Fausta, the mother who is honored for raising her daughter to become a saint, pray for us!