A Dictionary of Saintly Women/Olive (1)

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1695320A Dictionary of Saintly Women — Olive (1)Agnes B. C. Dunbar

St. Olive (1), Olivia, Uliva, March 5, V. M., 2nd century. The name of "St. Olivia" of Brescia is a corruption of "St. Illidius," but there is a tradition that this saint was a virgin pat to death for the faith, with various tortures, in the time of the Emperor Adrian. Her relics were kept in the church of St. Afra at Brescia in Italy. In the year 1597, a certain priest had a right to some property, but it was kept from him by a powerful adversary. Having spent nearly all his patrimony in trying to get possession of it, he made a vow to offer a precious gift to St. Olive in the event of his succeeding. He immediately gained his cause without more trouble, and fulfilled his vow by offering, with all reverence and devotion, a golden olive branch with fruit on it, to the relics of the holy Saint, in the church of the Capuchins, at Salo, on the western shore of the lake of Benaco. AA.SS. Mas Latrie.