Blandina (?-177)
Blandina was a slave woman from the city of Lyons whose legacy is her great love for Christ. She and other fellow Christians faced gruesome torture and martyrdom and Blandina’s response to these experiences were seen as exemplary. Her story is documented by Eusebius (c.260-c.339) in Ecclesiastical History. He described Blandina as providing hope, inspiration, and leadership to those suffering alongside her. He writes, “… and tiny, weak, and insignificant as she was, she would give inspiration to her brothers, for she had put on Christ, that mighty and invincible athlete, and had overcome the Adversary in many contests, and through her conflict had won the crown of immortality.”[1] As Eusebius suggests, Blandina “put on Christ” and achieved the great feat of defeating Satan, the Adversary, in her martyrdom.
Blandina’s example of courage and fortitude astonished those who witnessed her martyrdom.[2] It is said that Blandina was filled with such power that even those who were taking turns to torture her all day were exhausted and admitted there was nothing further they could do to her. They were surprised she was still breathing as her entire body was torn.[3] On her final day of torture, it is said that Blandina encouraged and strengthened fellow martyr, fifteen-year-old Ponticus who was thus able to endure his torment and waited for him to give up his spirit before succumbing to her injuries herself.[4] In this, Eusebius presents Blandina with motherly imagery:
The blessed Blandina was last of all: like a noble mother encouraging her children, she sent them before her in triumph to the King, and then, after duplicating her in her own body all her children’s sufferings, she hastened to rejoin them, rejoicing and glorifying in her death as though she had been invited to a bridal banquet instead of being a victim to the beasts.[5]
Blandina’s suffering was likened to Christs’ because, like him, she was tortured and hung up on a cross-like pole. She was intended to be bait for the wild animals, but the animals did not touch her.[6] Because of Blandina’s fervent prayers during her suffering, she led and comforted her fellow martyrs like Ponticus, and inspired those around her to believe that those who suffer for Christ’s glory will have eternal fellowship in the living God.[7] Eusebius boasts that Blandina’s love for God was not just in appearance but demonstrated in achievement.”[8] Blandina is an example of someone who was thought to be lowly emerging as a great disciple and example to the church. Lucilla, our next disciple, was of higher social standing, but matched Blandina in her resolve.
Sources:
[1] Miller, Women in Early Christianity, 43.
[2] Cohick, Christian Women in the Patristic World, 116.
[3] Oden, In Her Words, 39.
[4] Oden, In Her Words, 41.
[5] Miller, Women in Early Christianity, 43.
[6] Oden, In Her Words, 40.
[7] Oden, In Her Words, 40.
[8] Miller, Women in Early Christianity, 41.