Dorothea of Caesarea

Dorothea is said to have died during the late Diocletianic Persecution, though Diocletian himself had already resigned by the time of her execution. She was martyred alongside a companion named Theophilus at Caesarea in Cappadocia. The Roman Martyrology listed them both, assigning their feast to 6 February and officially recognizing Dorothea as a virgin martyr. But the historical record is threadbare—her acta offer virtually no proof she lived. In 1969, when Pope Paul VI issued Mysterii Paschalis and reformed the liturgical calendar, Dorothea was removed from the General Roman Calendar on the…