09/16/206 – Життя Святих / Lives of the Saints
Св. вмц. Євфимії всехвальної / Great Martyr Euphemia the All-praised
The Synaxarion (Lives of the Saints):
The Holy Great Martyr Euphemia was the daughter of Christian parents, the senator Philophronos and his wife Theodosia. She suffered for Christ in the year 304 in Chalcedon, across the Bosphorus from Constantinople. Priscus, the Proconsul of Chalcedon, ordered all the people to attend a pagan festival and offer sacrifice to the idol of Ares. Forty-nine Christians gathered secretly in one house to pray to the true God. Saint Euphemia was among them. They were discovered and brought before the governor. For nineteen days they endured various tortures, but none denied Christ. Priscus kept Euphemia apart from the others, hoping that she would be easier to persuade. The young virgin prayed fervently for strength and refused all his promises and threats. Saint Euphemia endured many terrible tortures. She was tied to a wheel with sharp knives, but when she prayed, the wheel miraculously stopped. An angel appeared, freed her, and healed her wounds. She was then thrown into a fiery furnace, but remained unharmed. Soldiers Victor and Sosthenes, seeing angels in the flames, refused to carry out the order and professed their faith in Christ. They were later martyred. Saint Euphemia endured still more tortures. She was thrown into a pit filled with sharp knives, but walked across it unharmed. Finally, she was sent into the arena to be devoured by wild beasts. The lions and bears did not attack her. At last, a she-bear wounded her foot, and the Saint gave her soul to God. At that moment, an earthquake shook the city, and many fled in fear. Her parents were able to take her body and bury it near Chalcedon. Later, a magnificent church was built over her grave. The Fourth Ecumenical Council met there in 451. During the Council, Saint Euphemia miraculously confirmed the true Orthodox faith and exposed the Monophysite heresy. This miracle is commemorated on July 11. Her relics were later transferred to Constantinople and, during the Iconoclast persecution, taken to the island of Lemnos. They were eventually returned to Constantinople. The incorrupt body of Saint Euphemia is now venerated in the Patriarchal Church of Saint George at the Phanar in Constantinople.