Wealthy

Biography

Saint Pudente was a Roman nobleman, disciple of Pope Saint Pius I (140–155), who distinguished himself at this time for his Christian integrity and the defense of his faith against pagan challenges.

The two daughters he had from his wife Savinella, Pudenciana and Praxedes, were educated in the truths of the Christian faith and in the purest love of Jesus Christ, to whom they consecrated their virginity. They turned their house into a sanctuary, where even the Popes came to celebrate the divine mysteries, administer the sacraments and hide when danger threatened.

Pudente, after having given a distinguished example of Christian virtue, according to the data we have, died in the year 161, at the end of the reign of Antoninus Pius. According to some ancient sources, his mortal remains were buried in the cemetery of Santa Priscilla, on Via Salaria, and his house, previously used many times for the celebration of the Christian liturgy, was converted into a church. She was later designated with the title of Pastor.

From this Pudente, father of the saints Pudenciana and Praxedes, who lived around the years 150–160, it seems that another Pudente, from the end of the 1st century, who was perhaps the father or grandfather of the previous one, must be distinguished. He was a Roman senator, and ancient Roman tradition testifies that he was a disciple of Saint Peter and received baptism at his hands. Likewise, he received him into his own home, where the holy apostle spent some time exercising his apostolic ministries.