Martyr Thomais of Alexandria

Thomais was a young Christian woman of Alexandria in Egypt, remembered in the synaxarion as a martyr for chastity and conjugal fidelity. According to her life, she was born into a Christian family, raised in piety, and given to spiritual reading. At the age of fifteen she married a Christian fisherman and lived in his household, where the tradition relates that she was loved for her mild and gentle disposition.

Her death is traced to the unchaste desire of her father-in-law. While her husband was away fishing one night, the old man, captivated by her beauty, attempted to draw her into sin. She refused and admonished him, reminding him of the Last Judgment and the penalty for such a transgression. Enraged and overcome with passion, he struck her with a sword and killed her. By tradition the murderer was immediately blinded, could not find his way out of the room, and was discovered, arrested, and condemned to death.

Thomais is venerated as a protector against the assaults of unclean passions and is invoked by those struggling against carnal temptation. Her commemoration falls on April 13, with April 14 observed in some calendars. She is counted among the saints of the late-fifth-century Egyptian Church, her death conventionally dated to about 476.