السيرة
Her Upbringing:
Euphrasia, or Euproxia, was born in Constantinople during the reign of the Emperor Theodosius the Great, toward the end of the third century, and she was related to the Emperor. Her father, Antigonus, was the governor of the city of Lycia, a man known for his piety as well as the honor of his lineage. Her mother was a devout woman of surpassing beauty, also named Euphrasia. After the birth of their daughter, the two parents agreed together to live a life of celibacy beneath one roof, practicing a hidden ascetic life.
When the child was one year old her father departed, and when she reached the age of five the Emperor asked the mother to betroth her young daughter to one of the sons of the nobles, and the mother consented. But because the mother was only twenty-two years old, and on account of her exceeding beauty, many of the young noblemen came forward desiring to marry this youthful widow, and the Emperor kept urging her to remarry.
Euphrasia asked the Emperor to permit her to visit Egypt in order to attend to certain of her material affairs; but her chief purpose was to flee the imperial palace, lest the Emperor press her and she break the vow of chastity which she had pledged together with her departed husband.
In Egypt:
When Euphrasia and her daughter arrived in Egypt, they visited a number of monasteries, among them a convent in Alexandria with a hundred and thirty nuns who lived in a spirit of ascetic devotion. These nuns never left their convent, and ate nothing until after sunset—only bread and pulses; they wore sackcloth and labored with their own hands.
Euphrasia offered money to the convent, but the abbess absolutely refused it, excusing herself by saying that the work of their hands was sufficient for their livelihood.
Euphrasia the elder and her daughter, the younger Euphrasia, came often to this convent, for they found rest there; and the nuns came to love the little child Euphrasia, who was then seven years of age.
The abbess once asked the little girl in jest: "Whom do you love more—the nuns of this convent, or your betrothed?" The child answered: "I have never known my betrothed, nor does he know me; but the nuns of the convent I know, and I love them all." Then the child said: "And you—whom do you love more, me or my betrothed?" The abbess smiled and said: "We love you, and our Lord Jesus Christ loves you too." Then she said: "I also love you all, and I love our Lord Jesus Christ with a great love."
The mother Euphrasia listened to her daughter's gentle words and watched the expressions of her face, and unable to contain herself for the greatness of her joy, the tears flowed from her eyes without her uttering a word.
In the evening the mother asked her daughter that they should leave the convent, so as not to burden the abbess with their presence; but the child said to her: "Go yourself, mother, if you wish, and let me remain here." The mother answered her: "We must leave the convent, for it is a dwelling for ascetics set apart for the worship of God."
The child knelt before the icon of the Crucified, saying:
"O sweet Jesus, You are my Lord and my God. Behold, I dedicate myself wholly to You, and I will not go forth from here, for I desire no bridegroom but You."
The mother abbess was moved by the sight, and so too was the child's mother, and they did not know what to do; but the abbess gently said to the child: "You cannot stay with us now, for there is no empty cell." In her simplicity the child said: "And why may I not live with you in your own cell?" The abbess was abashed, and then said to the mother, "Leave her; I will prepare a place for her," explaining to her that the girl would not be able to bear so long a stay, but would grow weary and leave the convent.
The child remained for some days and showed no weariness; rather she clung all the more to that holy place with joy and exultation. And when the abbess, together with her mother, asked her to leave the convent, she refused. And when the abbess wished to press hard upon her so that she would leave, she required her to memorize the Psalms by heart and to practice certain austerities; yet the child received this with joy, growing in grace—which led the mother abbess to say to Euphrasia: "Leave the little girl among us, for the grace of God is at work in her heart; your piety and the piety of Antigonus have opened for her the most perfect way."
The tears flowed from the mother's eyes as she rejoiced over her daughter; for she took hold of the girl and brought her before the icon of the Holy Cross, saying: "O Lord Jesus Christ, receive this child. She loves You alone, and seeks You alone, and behold she consecrates her life to Your service." Then she turned to her daughter and said: "May God, who established the mountains, keep you always in His holy fear."
It was not long before Euphrasia put on the habit of the monastic life, and her mother asked her whether she was glad or not, and she answered: "Mother, this is my wedding garment, given to me that I might honor Jesus my Beloved." And the mother rejoiced as she saw her daughter growing in grace.
Euphrasia saw her husband in a dream, shining with a heavenly light and calling her to the Kingdom; and she related this to the mother abbess. And indeed Euphrasia departed and was buried in the cemetery of the convent.
Her Summons to Constantinople:
Euphrasia grew daily in the knowledge of God through a pure and holy life, and when she reached the age of twelve she would eat only in the evening.
The Emperor—most likely Arcadius—sent to her, summoning her to come to Constantinople to marry the nobleman to whom she had previously been betrothed. So she sent word to him that she had accepted a heavenly Bridegroom, to whom she had vowed her life, and she asked him to distribute the whole of her inheritance among the poor and to set all her slaves free. The Emperor rejoiced at her letter, which he read aloud before the judges and all who were about him, taking pride in her. As for her, she lived in humility, performing the lowliest tasks and serving all in the convent as best she could: she would clean their cells, carry water to the kitchen, chop the firewood, and the like—and all loved her for her humility and her love.
Her Struggle Against the Enemy:
Though Euphrasia had forsaken wealth by her own will, the wicked enemy did not cease to war against her—at times reminding her of the palaces of Constantinople and of the good she might do if she lived her life as a married noblewoman, and at other times raising before her vile carnal images, and so forth.
When one of the nuns saw the honor and love this nun had attained in the hearts of all the sisters, including the mother abbess—on account of her obedience and her cheerfulness, together with her humility and love, which granted her a spiritual beauty alongside her bodily beauty, despite her severe fasts, which at times reached the point that she would eat but once a week—that nun bore a grudge against her. She was called Germana, of the bondwomen. This nun spread it about in the convent that what Euphrasia did was not out of her love for God, but rather in pursuit of temporal glory and love of display; yet for all this Euphrasia treated her gently and showed her more tenderness than the rest of the nuns.
It is said that a family brought a woman possessed by a violent demon, for she would rage and strike those near her with violence; they brought her to the convent bound, that the nuns might pray over her. The mother abbess entrusted her to Euphrasia, for she knew that God had granted her this gift, to heal the sick in the name of the Lord Christ and to cast out demons with a humble and contrite spirit. And indeed Euphrasia comforted her and prayed for her, and the woman found rest and grew very calm, and even became attached to Euphrasia.
This stirred up the envy of the nun Germana, who went to the mother abbess complaining: why was the demon-possessed woman entrusted to the nun Euphrasia and to no other? And so, when the woman came again, the abbess delivered her to Germana; but the woman struck her with such violence and force that she nearly killed her, had it not been for the intervention of Saint Euphrasia, who prayed over her so that she grew calm and found rest after the demon had gone out of her. And so God was the more glorified in the life of Euphrasia, and Germana repented of what she had done.
When Euphrasia reached the age of thirty she fell ill and suffered very greatly, and then she reposed in the Lord. The nun Julia—who had not been mentioned before as her disciple—was so moved by the repose of her disciple Euphrasia that she remained beside her grave for three days, weeping and praying; and on the fourth day Julia said to the mother abbess that the Lord Christ had called her to rest through the prayers of Euphrasia. And indeed her soul was taken on the fourth day, and she was buried with her disciple (about the year 420 A.D.).
Feast: 13 March.
Note: Some hold that she was a virgin of Rome, and that she was related to the Emperor Honorius