St. Febronia Martyr of Nisibis +304

St. Febronia Martyr of Nisibis +304

June 25th is the commemoration of the dukhrono of St. Febronia Martyr of Nisibis +304 according to the Liturgical Calendar of the Syriac Orthodox Church. She is also known as Febronia nun of Sebapte. Mort Febronia's biography was written by her fellow nun Thaumasia. She was born in Ouryana in Mesopotamia. From the age of 2 she lived in the Convent where her paternal aunt Bryene was the abbess. The 50 nuns of the Convent ate only once a day, spending the rest of the time in prayer. However, Febronia was given a harsher regimen of a meal once every two days. She was not only highly intelligent, humble & virtuous but very beautiful as well. In her meekness, she had never gazed on a man nor even a woman outside the Convent her whole life. Three generals of Emperor Diocletian namely Selenos, Lysimachus & Primus arrived in Nisbis. They compelled all Christians to offer sacrifice to idols & threatened to murder those who defied the orders. Soon all the Christians in town, including the clergy & monks left their homes & fled. Febronia when she heard of their plans said, “I have offered myself to Christ. Therefore, I will not resort to flight. Let whatever God wills take place.” All the nuns except abbess Bryene, Thaumasia & Febronia fled the Convent. Bryene was especially worried as Febronia was a beautiful maiden who just reached the age of 20. She feared her niece would be captured by the barbarians & forced into unlawful marriage or worse. Thaumasia comforted her saying, "He who can raise the dead can certainly strengthen Febronia & save her.” Selenos & Lysimachus had taken control of the city, the soldiers seized a large number of Christian churches & threw the faithful into prisons. Some pagans informed them about the convent. As soon as the soldiers entered, they seized Bryene & drew their swords. Febronia then threw herself at the soldier’s feet, “I plead you in the name of God, kill me first so that I need not see my mistress’ death.” Primus informed Lysimachus that the three nuns were all that remained in the Convent, telling him that he could of taken Febronia as a wife. Lysimachus refused to harm a woman who is a nun, as he was sympathetic towards Christians (his deceased mother was a Christian). However, Selenos angrily dragged Febronia out of the Convent. Thaumasia dresses as a lay woman & secretly follows them. Selenos takes Febronia to the middle of the city in front of a crowd & forces her to accept Lysimachus as her husband, but she boldly refuses. Enraged, Selenos orders the soldiers to rip off her clothes & leave her naked to be shamed. They then begin to inflict brutal physical torture upon her. Iron nails are dug into her body, the wheels of a chariot run over her torso, her teeth are smashed, her tongue cut out, her breasts hacked & her limbs chopped. At the end of this excruciating ordeal, he finally ordered her to be beheaded, thus Mort Febronia attained the crown of martyrdom. As Selenos was leaving, a wave of depression fell upon him & in a fit of madness he struck his head on the stone column killing himself. Lysimachus then exclaimed, "Great is Febronia's God: He has avenged her blood that was impiously shed." He arranged for Febronia's burial at the Convent, & along with Primus got baptized after repenting of their sins. The Metropolitan of Nisbis decided to shift the remains of Febronia to a church built in her honor, however when her coffin was opened an earthquake occurred. Fearing further calamities, they took a single tooth as a relic. Later in A.D. 363, her relics were shifted to Constantinople. A portion of her relics is kept at St. Febronia Convent in Qamishli, Syria. Biography courtesy of, "Martyrs, Saints and Prelates of the Syriac Orthodox Church" Oh Mort Febronia! May we also remain pure & steadfast in the face of persecution like you did. On your feast day, we pray for all the nuns (Dayroyotho) of our Syriac Orthodox Church that the Lord bless them abundantly. Plead for us before God's throne of grace. Amen. http://www.soc-wus.org/ourchurch/st.%20febronia.htm