Today we celebrate the Holy Virgin Martyr Domna of Nicomedia. Saint Domna lived during the time of the persecution of Christians by Maximian in Nicomedia. She was a pagan priestess in the royal palace, however she in a way managed to obtain a copy of the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles of Saint Paul. Having read these, her heart burned with longing to learn more about the Christian faith. She secretly went with a young Christian girl to the Bishop, Saint Anthimus, who taught them about Christ and baptised them. Domna then began to serve the poor, giving away her valuables as well as food from the imperial palace. When it was found out that she was giving away the palace’s food, she was beaten in order to confess her deeds, but she remained silent. She was then locked up in prison to die from starvation, but an angel attended to her and she survived. After this, she left for a monastery where the Abbess immediately upon hearing her story, dressed her in a monk’s clothes so that she might be disguised. Eventually she was found out and the emperor sent soldiers to destroy the monastery. Some nuns, including Domna, fled, but some were taken to prison and were beaten severely. Domna lived for much time in a cave in the wilderness, surviving off plants. She eventually returned to the city only to find that 20,000 martyrs had been burned alive in a church, refusing to come out and offer sacrifice to the idols. She wept for a long time considering herself unworthy as she did not suffer with the martyrs. She found some of the bodies of the martyrs along the sea shore and reverently buried them. She daily burned incense before the graves of the martyrs and constantly recited prayers. When this was discovered by the emperor, he ordered that she be executed. Thus, the Virgin Martyr Domna was beheaded and earned herself the double crown of virginity and martyrdom. May she intercede for us always + #saint #domna #nicomedia #martyr #virginmartyr #20000 #martyrdom #priestess #palace #royal #emperor #rome #convert #paul #stpaul #saintpaul #apostlepaul #acts #actsoftheapostles #bible #epistle #epistles #anthimus #baptise #baptism #orthodox #sophia