السيرة
Lives of the saints and martyrs in the Coptic Orthodox Church
Apollinaria was the elder daughter of Anthemius, the regent over the Empire of the East in the days of Theodosius and grandfather of the Emperor Anthemius (467–472 A.D.). She was a lover of God, learning the hymns of the Church and studying the Scriptures with great ardor, and gathering around herself in the palace a company of holy virgins. When the age of marriage came, she insisted on living a celibate life, devoting all her time to the Lord, which grieved the hearts of her parents.
She longed to enjoy the blessing of the holy places in Jerusalem, and so she sought the permission of her parents, who sent with her an imperial guard and a retinue of noble ladies and palace servants. She set out indeed for Jerusalem and went about receiving blessings from the holy places, practicing a life of repentance with severe asceticism, refusing all the invitations extended to her by the official authorities and the bishops, for she insisted on conducting herself in those lands as befits those who bear the Cross.
The young woman set out toward Alexandria and reached the harbor of Lemma, near Abusir, about thirty kilometers from Alexandria. From there she visited the Monastery of Saint Menas in Mariout, and stood in reverence before his relics, asking for his prayers.
She asked to go to Scetis to visit the solitary fathers, and she set out by carriage at night, going around Lake Mariout and pressing deep into the desert, remaining in prayer for long hours during the journey. At midnight the carriage reached the shore of a marsh near a spring of fresh water, which was known until the eleventh century by the name of Saint Apollinaria. When everyone had rested at that stopping place, the princess made certain that all were asleep, then drew the curtains of the carriage and stepped down carefully; after removing her garments she put on the clothing of a monk that she had brought with her, lifted her eyes toward heaven to ask for divine help, then signed herself with the sign of the Cross and vanished amid the reeds of the marsh.
In the morning everyone waited for the princess to wake and bid them set out, but as the heat of the sun grew intense they opened the curtains, only to find the garments alone, and they realized that she had fled. Everyone was thrown into confusion, and the governor was compelled to write to her father all that had happened in detail. Her father took her garments and began to shed copious tears, as Jacob did when he received the tunic of his son Joseph, and the palace was overtaken by signs of grief and sorrow.
Her features were utterly altered because of her severe asceticism and her exposure to the bites of the mosquitoes.
When she came out from this solitude, she heard a voice saying to her: "If you are asked about your name, answer firmly: Dorotheus."
The Spirit of the Lord guided Saint Macarius to her path and concealed her true identity from him, so that he supposed her to be a young man seeking the monastic life. He gave her an abandoned cave, in which she spent years secluded with God, practicing her worship with a burning heart.
Years later, when Apollinaria's younger sister was afflicted with severe sufferings that baffled the physicians, Anthemius was compelled to send her, with a large guard and ladies, to Scetis, to ask the fathers for prayer on her behalf. Saint Macarius sent her to the monk Dorotheus, not knowing that he was her sister.
Apollinaria recognized her wretched sister and could not restrain her emotion, shedding copious tears. Then she brought her into her cell, fell upon her neck and kissed her warmly, made herself known to her, and asked her not to disclose her secret—but the younger sister was not in her right mind. And when Apollinaria prayed, the Lord delivered her from the unclean spirit.
Father Dorotheus led the princess to the church, and everyone rejoiced over her, and the procession set out for Constantinople, where the whole city was awaiting her.
Her father insisted, asking the monk Dorotheus to come to the palace to bless it, and the monk was compelled to accept the invitation after everyone pressed him, and there he met his parents, and they did not recognize him.
Apollinaria fell to the ground and kissed her parents, beseeching them to let her return to her solitude, and the father and mother could scarcely hold back their cries. The father took her in his arms and pressed her to his heart and kissed her blessed face and bathed it with his tears.
After much insistence Apollinaria resolved to return, refusing every earthly gift from her parents, and set out for Scetis. There, after a time, she summoned Saint Macarius and informed him of her approaching departure, and asked him that no one uncover her body, but that they bury her just as she was.
She delivered up her spirit into the hands of God, and the solitary fathers bid her farewell with hymns and praises, and buried her in her cave, east of the church. The hand of God was glorified at her tomb, and a church was raised in her name over her cave, called "the Church of Apollinarius," which remained until the eighteenth century. The Western Church commemorates her on the fifth of January