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Great Martyr4th century

Great Martyr Euphemia the All-Praised

died c. 303-304

Also known as Euphemia of Chalcedon

A maiden of Chalcedon who confessed Christ and was given to wild beasts and fire under Diocletian; in later days, at the Fourth Ecumenical Council, the Orthodox confession of faith was laid in her tomb and found upon her breast, while the heretics' scroll lay at her feet.

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Commemorated as

The Holy, Glorious and All-Praised Great Martyr Euphemia of Chalcedon

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Healing

Life

Euphemia, surnamed the All-Praised, was a young virgin of Chalcedon, the city on the Asian shore of the Bosphorus opposite Constantinople, who was martyred during the Great Persecution under the emperor Diocletian. By tradition she was the daughter of Christian parents, the senator Philophronos and his wife Theodosia.

When the proconsul Priscus issued a decree requiring the inhabitants of Chalcedon to attend a pagan festival and sacrifice to the idol of Ares, Euphemia was among a company of Christians discovered worshipping in secret. She refused to comply and was subjected to a succession of torments before dying in the arena. In later centuries she became closely identified with the Fourth Ecumenical Council, held in 451 in a church built over her grave, where Orthodox tradition holds that she miraculously confirmed the Council's confession of faith.

Troparion & Kontakion5 hymnsReadHide

TroparionTone 4

Your lamb Euphēmia calls out to You, O Jesus, in a loud voice:
“I love You, my Bridegroom, and in seeking You I endure suffering.
In Baptism I was crucified so that I might reign in You,
and I died so that I might live with You.
Accept me as a pure sacrifice,
for I have offered myself in love.”
Through her prayers, save our souls, since You are merciful.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 4

(Slavic usage) You loved your Bridegroom Christ,
and your lamp was well trimmed shining with virtue, O All-praised Euphēmia,
and so you went in with Him to the wedding feast,
receiving from Him a crown of martyrdom.
Deliver us from misfortune, who revere your memory with faith.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

KontakionTone 4

(Podoben: “As You were voluntarily raised...”) In your struggle you contested well, Euphēmia;
even after death you make us holy by gushing forth miracles, O All-praised one.
Therefore, we honor your holy repose, standing by your august relics with faith,
in order to be delivered from spiritual afflictions,
and that we may draw forth the grace of your miracles.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

KontakionTone 2

For the sake of Christ your Bridegroom
you underwent struggles in both martyrdom and faith.
Now intercede with the Mother of God
that heresies and the insolent enemies of the Orthodox be placed underfoot.
You received and guarded that which was defined by the six hundred and thirty God-bearing Fathers,
all-praised Euphemia.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 3

You brought joy to the Orthodox
and shame to the defenders of heresy,
for you confirmed what the Fathers of the Fourth Council had correctly taught.
Glorious martyr Euphemia, fair virgin of Christ,
entreat Christ God to grant us His great mercy.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline4 momentsReadHide

c. 303-304Martyrdom at ChalcedonDiscovered among a group of Christians worshipping in secret rather than sacrificing to Ares as the proconsul Priscus had commanded, Euphemia was put to a series of torments and died in the arena.
451Council of ChalcedonThe Fourth Ecumenical Council met in a church built over Euphemia's grave; Orthodox tradition associates the saint with the Council's confirmation of the Orthodox confession of faith against Monophysitism.
c. 620Relics transferred to ConstantinopleAfter the Persian conquest of Chalcedon, her relics were carried across to Constantinople.
796Relics returned to ConstantinopleAfter being lost to the sea during the period of iconoclast persecution, the relics were recovered and returned to Constantinople.

Contributions & Legacy

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Martyrdom

According to the synaxarion, the proconsul Priscus of Chalcedon decreed that all inhabitants of the city and surrounding region attend a pagan festival to worship and sacrifice to the idol of Ares, under threat of grave torments. A company of Christians, numbering about fifty and including the young Euphemia, were found worshipping the true God in hiding and refused to take part.

The accounts relate that the martyrs were subjected to various torments over a span of days, and that Euphemia endured a sequence of trials: she was bound to a wheel fitted with knives, cast into fire, and set over a concealed pit, surviving each. She was finally sentenced to be devoured by wild beasts in the arena. The tradition holds that the lions and bears would not attack her, and that she died when a she-bear wounded her foot. The sources place her martyrdom in 303 or 304.

The Council of Chalcedon

A church was raised over Euphemia's grave at Chalcedon, and it was there that the sessions of the Fourth Ecumenical Council took place in 451, which condemned the Monophysite teaching and affirmed that Christ is acknowledged in two natures. Orthodox tradition holds that the Orthodox and Monophysite parties laid their respective written confessions in the saint's tomb, and that when it was reopened the scroll bearing the Orthodox confession was found in her hand while the Monophysite scroll lay at her feet.

This account first appears in surviving literature in an eleventh-century synaxarium from Constantinople, and modern scholars regard the episode as a later legend rather than a contemporary record. The saint's connection with the Council nonetheless became central to her veneration, and her July 11 feast commemorates the miracle of her relics.

Relics & Shrines

After the persecution ended, Euphemia's relics were enshrined in a sarcophagus within a church dedicated to her at Chalcedon. Around 620, following the Persian capture of the city, the relics were transferred to Constantinople. During the iconoclast period the reliquary was lost to the sea and later recovered, being returned to Constantinople in 796.

The greater part of her relics rests today in the Patriarchal Church of Saint George in the Phanar quarter of Constantinople (Istanbul), with portions reported in Cyprus and Saint Petersburg.

Family2 relativesShowHide

Family

Her father, by tradition a senator and a Christian.

Philophronos

Her mother, by tradition a Christian.

Theodosia

Companions1 figureShowHide

The two soldiers converted at her passion, commemorated the same day.

Martyrs Victor and Sosthenesof Chalcedon

Related Saints1 saintShowHide

Saints connected to her life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

His Tome upheld the Orthodox confession affirmed at the Fourth Ecumenical Council (Chalcedon, 451), which met in the church over Euphemia's tomb; tradition holds she confirmed the Orthodox scroll laid in her relics.

Saint Leo the GreatPope of Rome

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints