Today March 13

Today is the feast of St. Euphrasia, virgin, died c. 420. This remarkable girl, a foster child of an emperor (Theodosius I), may well have been the envy of St. Therese the Little Flower, for Therese fought hard to gain admittance to a convent at age 15 . . . and Euphrasia was accepted at 7! The power of the emperor didn't secure her her position, for both she and her widowed mother were fleeing the court, since they both were being sought by potential suitors! The unnamed mother was more successful in this than the daughter, for when she came of age, the son of the wealthy senator to whom she'd been promised came looking for her. She refused him, but began more and more to be distracted and tempted by that rich old world she had once -- and could again -- inhabited.

To help keep her mind on her vocation (and the love of the Lord), the mother superior gave her many hard and/or menial tasks to do: cleaning the cells, carrying water, chopping wood, baking bread, cooking food, and, Dostoevsky's perennial favorite: moving a heavy pile of stones to one place and then back again! The treatment worked: she humbly and completely embraced the life she had once chosen, and even joined in extra prayers and hymns. She was accused of doing so in order to win the superior's position; instead of countering such slander, she merely knelt and asked the accuser to pray for her! She died peacefully, and when her cellmate and best friend Julia prayed to join her in heaven, three days later Julia was found dead. A month later the grieving mother superior prayed to join them also; the next morning she was dead as well, having gone to her reward. St. Euphrasia is honored by the Russians, Orthodox and Catholic alike. St. Euphrasia, pray for us.