The name Verena means "the good fruit". According to tradition, Verena was of a noble Christian family from the village of Garagous, near Luxor. Her parents sent her to Sherimon, Bishop of Beni Suef, to be instructed in the Christian faith, after which he baptized her. She was a relative of Saint Victor of the Theban Legion. As soldiers' relatives were allowed to accompany them in order to look after them and take care of their wounds, Verena accompanied the legion on its mission to Rhaetia. Other accounts say Verena traveled to Switzerland in search of her relative. Verena was still in Milan when word was received that Saint Maurice, Saint Victor and the other members of the Theban Legion, who had proceeded north, were martyred. Verena went to Agaunum to venerate them. First, she led the life of a hermit in a place called Solothurn, from there she went to Koblenz, but later moved into a cave near present-day Zurich. As a hermit, Verena fasted and prayed continuously. Several miracles were attributed to her intercession. Verena was a spiritual counselor for young girls and due to her expertise as a nurse used to look after their physical health. As a result of her fame, legend states that the local governor arrested her and sent her to jail, where Saint Maurice appeared to her to console and strengthen her. After she was released from jail, she continued her good works. Due to her, many converted to Christianity. Saint Verena fed the poor and nursed the sick, especially those suffering from leprosy. She used to wash their wounds and put ointments on them, not fearing infection. She died in Switzerland in 344.
Veneration
The Verena Minster church was built over the grave of Saint Verena in a Roman cemetery. She is one of the most revered saints in Switzerland.
In 1986, a delegation from Saint Verena's Church in Switzerland, brought a part of Saint Verena's relics to Egypt. The first Coptic church consecrated in the name of Saint Verena is Saint Maurice and Saint Verena’s Church in Cairo, which was consecrated by Pope Shenouda III on February 22, 1994. In October 2004, a delegation from the Diocese of Los Angeles in the United States of America, along with Bishop Serapion of Los Angeles, Fr. Joseph Boules and Fr. Gregory Bishay traveled to Switzerland to bring a part of Saint Verena's relics to her churches in Anaheim and Orange. The Anaheim church, now located in Yorba Linda, California, now has a shrine dedicated to her relic, as well as the church in Orange.
Iconography
She is often portrayed with either bread, or a jar of water in one hand, and a comb in the other, symbols of her care for the poor and lepers.
