Orthodox · † 304
Great Martyr Euphemia the All-Praised
Commemorated: September 29 (September 16, Old Style)
Life
Euphemia was the daughter of a senator, Philophronus, in Chalcedon, across the straits from Constantinople. According to her Life, in the time of Diocletian the proconsul Priscus ordered everyone to take part in a festival of the god Ares. Euphemia was one of forty-nine Christians found praying together in secret and refusing to do so. After nineteen days of torture her companions were sent to the emperor, while she was kept to be tested alone.
The Life tells of many torments she survived, among them the wheel, fire, a pit of snakes and wild beasts, before dying c. 304 from a bear's bite. Her parents buried her near the city. Her tomb became a place of pilgrimage, and in 451 the Council of Chalcedon met in the basilica built over it.
Places
- Place of birth: Chalcedon
- Place of death: Chalcedon
- Place of burial: St. Euphemia's Basilica
Retold briefly in our own words from: the Lives of the Saints by St Dimitry of Rostov (1902–1916).
The commemorations of the day: Ponomar (ponomar.net), CC BY-SA 3.0.
Places and years: Wikidata (CC0), each saint matched by hand.