St. Petronilla was long venerated as the daughter of St. Peter; recent study has shown that she belonged to the Roman family of the Aurellii. The mistake arose from misunderstanding an inscription.
On her tomb the Pope and the Roman Church formed by oath a spiritual relationship with France, which thus became the eldest daughter of the Church.
(Source: The New Roman Missal by Father Lasance).
The feast of the foundress of the Usurlines under the rule of the Third Order of St. Francis was inserted in the Calendar of the Universal Church by Pius IV in 1861. The devout pilgrimages of St. Angela to the Holy Land and the Rome recall, in a manner, those made by St. Bridget of Sweden some two centuries earlier.
“And the king loved her; and set the royal crown upon her head, and made her queen.” Esther 2.
“And a great sign appeared in heaven: A women clothed in the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her hear a crown of twelve stars.” Apoc 12.