St. Demiana & the 40 Virgin Martyrs

St. Demiana & the 40 Virgin Martyrs

January 21st is the commemoration of the dukhrono of St. Demiana and the 40 virgin martyrs of Egypt. Mort Demiana is the founder of monasticism for Coptic Orthodox nuns & the highest ranking female martyr of the Coptic Church. Toward the end of the 3rd century, there lived a Christian man named Marcos. He was the ruler of the Borolos & Zahfaran districts in Egypt. Marcos had only one daughter called Demiana. Her beauty & good character were legendary. Her father loved her dearly, & he did his best to raise her up in a true Christian way. Demiana loved to pray & read the holy books in the seclusion of her room. She often cried, while praying, as she felt the love of her Savior fill her little heart. Demiana, desiring to live a life of asceticism, requested her father to build a monastery for her. Her father granted her wish & built her a large palace in the wilderness. Demiana changed the palace into the first Coptic Orthodox coenobitic monastery for nuns, living the monastic, ascetic life with her forty unmarried friends. Demiana was the abbess; the nuns spent their time fasting, praying, reading the holy books, & providing for themselves & the poor by means of their handiwork. At that time Diocletian, the Emperor, began to torture & kill the Christians who refused to worship his idols. When Marcos was invited to kneel before the statues & offer incense, he refused. But Diocletian convinced him by promising to give him a higher position in the Roman Empire. When Demiana heard that her father had knelt before the idols, she left the palace & went immediately to him. She said, "How could you deny your Savior who shed His blood to save you, & kneel down to stone idols dwelled by satan. What you did, my father, is cowardly & shameful." When Marcos heard his daughter's words he came back to his senses. He said, "Woe to me, how could I fall in the Devil's trap & worship those idle statues." Macros was beheaded on order of Diocletian. On the last day before her martyrdom, our Lord Jesus Himself came to her & told her, "Have courage, my chosen one. I have prepared for you the crown of your wedding in heaven. Your name will be remembered forever as it will be the cause for many miracles, & in this place a great church will be built to honor your blessed name." Finally, the commander ordered the soldiers to behead Demiana by the sword, along with the forty virgins. Thus Mort Demiana attained the crown of martyrdom. Few years later, when King Constantine came to power, he sent his mother Queen Helena to Demiana's palace. Helena buried all the bodies that she found in great honor. She put Demiana's body on a bed made of ivory & decorated it with silk linen, & in the same place she built a church. Biography adapted from the Coptic Synaxarium Oh Mort Demiana! Plead for us before God's throne of grace. Amen. http://www.copticchurch.net/topics/synexarion/demiana.html