FABIOLA OR THE CHURCH OF THE CATACOMBS

It is a novel by the English Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman. It is in part Cardinal Wiseman’s answer to the book Hypatia, written by the Anglican Charles Kingsley. The novel was mainly aimed at the embattled Catholic minority in England, who in 1850 had emerged from a half-illegal status in England. The novel was first published in 1854.

It has been adapted to film three times. The story also weaves a number of martyrdom accounts and legends of real-life Christian saints into the fictitious story. These include Saint Agnes, Saint Sebastian, Saint Pancras (Pancratius), Saint Cassian (Cassianus), Saint Emerentiana, and Saint Tarcisius. Two exceptions are the characters of Fabiola and of the blind beggar girl Caecilia, Syra's friend and fellow Christian; though they do bear saints' names, are not identical with Saint Fabiola (who lived later) and Saint Cecilia (whose legend is very different from Caecilia's story in the novel).

This is a much-loved classic for both young and old.