ΓΙΑ ΤΙΣ ΑΓΙΕΣ, ΕΛΛΗΝΙΚΑ
St. Thomais of Alexandria, Martyr
Commemorated on April 13
Thomais was born into a Christian family in the city of Alexandria. She was raised in piety, and loved to read spiritual books.
When she was fifteen, she married a fisherman, who was also a Christian. The young couple lived in the house of her husband’s family, where St. Thomais was loved for her mild and gentle disposition.
St. Thomais’ father-in-law, at the prompting of the devil, was captivated by her beauty. One night, when his son was out fishing, he attempted to lead his daughter-in-law into sin. Horrified, St. Thomais admonished the senseless old man, reminding him of the Last Judgment and the penalty for sin. Infuriated by her steadfastness, he seized a sword and threatened to cut off her head. St. Thomais replied, “Even if you cut me to pieces, I shall not stray from the commandments of the Lord.” Overcome with passion, the old man cut St Thomais in two with his sword. The saint received the crown of martyrdom in 476.
Divine punishment overtook the murderer. He instantly became blind and could not find the door in order to escape. In the morning, friends of the saint’s husband came to the door. They saw the body of the saint, and the blind old man covered with blood. The murderer confessed his evil deed and asked to be taken to the judge for punishment. He was beheaded for his crime.
At this same time, St. Daniel of Skete happened to be in Alexandria. He told the monks of the Oktodekadian Monastery to bring the body of St. Thomais to the monastery and bury her in the cemetery with the departed fathers. Some of the monks were scandalized because he wanted to bury a woman’s body with the monks, but St. Daniel replied, “She is a mother to me and to you, because she died for her chastity.”
After the funeral, St Daniel returned to his own skete. Soon one of the young monks began to complain to him that he was tormented by fleshly passions. St. Daniel ordered him to go and pray at the grave of the holy martyr Thomais. The monk did the bidding of the Elder. While he prayed at the grave, he fell into a light sleep. St. Thomais appeared to him and said, “Father, accept my blessing and go in peace.”
When he awakened, the monk felt joy and peace in his soul. After this, he told St. Daniel that he was no longer bothered by the temptations of the flesh. Abba Daniel exclaimed, “Great is the boldness of those who have struggled for chastity.”
Many found both spiritual joy and release from their passions at the grave of St. Thomais. Her holy relics were eventually transferred to Constantinople to one of the women’s monasteries. The Russian pilgrim Archdeacon Zosimas venerated them in 1420.
St. Thomais is invoked by those seeking deliverance from sexual impurity.
By permission of the Orthodox Church in America ( www.oca.org)
St. Thomaïs the Righteous of Lesvos
St. Thomaïs the Righteous of Lesvos - Commemorated on January 3rd (icon taken from here)
Note: The incredible, virtuous life of St. Thomais, a protector of the married life, is a wonderful example of the love, patience and forbearance that should exist between Christian husbands and wives. However, this in no way justifies the domestic abuse that she suffered at the hands of her husband. As St. Paul mentions in his Epistle to the Ephesians (the portion read during the Orthodox Wedding Service): "Even so husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body." May St. Thomais intercede for all of us and help us!
St. Thomais was from the island of Lesvos and was born between 910-913 AD from pious and rich parents. They were childless, but with the Grace of God and the intercessions of the Panagia, they brought the Saint into the world. The Saint, after pressures and great desires of her parents, was married to a man named Stephanos. And because she was very pious and virtuous, she endured the barbaric behavior of her husband, who beat her severely every day [for thirteen years]. The Saint countered this temptation with prayer, patience and charity. God made her worthy of the grace of wonder-working.
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| Icon of St. Thomais (Icon courtesy of www.eikonografos.com used with permission) |
St. Thomais righteously fell asleep in peace at the age of 38 and was buried in the convent named “Mikra Romaiou”, or “Romaiou”, which was between Selyvria and Polyandriou on the seventh hill of Constantinople. Forty days after her burial, her holy relic was uncovered and placed in a luxurious reliquary inside the church of the monastery. [Her body] was incorrupt and on her precious hands are discerned the wounds from her husband. In older times her memory was celebrated on January 1st, but after the 10th century the celebration of her memory was transferred to January 3rd, as the day of her death was the same as the feasts of Christ's Circumcision and St. Basil the Great. Her precious body was lost, most likely during the sack of Constantinople by the Latins (1204).
Her grave and her sacred relic became a spring of miracles. A demon-possessed man named Konstantinos, who approached her tomb, was healed. A paralytic named Eutychianos, who prayed and embraced her tomb stood on his feet. A nun with terrible pains in the head was healed and another with epilepsy was also healed. A fisherman found his torn nets in the sea filled with fish. A woman with terrible stomach pains was healed and from gratitude built a magnificent arch above her grave. As a final miracle [presented here], her husband, who after her death became possessed, was healed. They placed him in chains and let him to the Saint's tomb and he was healed.
(amateur translation and summary of Greek texts from: http://www.synaxaristis.googlepages.com/3ιανουαριου, http://www.pigizois.net/agiologio/lesviako_agiologio/10.htm; Note, the full Greek text of the life of the Saint is available here: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/thomais-uni.html)
May St. Thomais intercede for us all and help us!
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| St. Thomais of Lesvos (icon taken from here) |
Ἀπολυτίκιο. Ἦχος δ'. Ταχὺ προκατάλαβε.
Τάς θλίψεις τοῦ βίου σου, ὡς προσφορὰν λογικήν, Χριστῷ προσενένκασα, τὴν τῶν θαυμάτων ἰσχύν, Ὁσία, ἀντείληφας. Ὅθεν ὡς συζυγίας, ὑποτύπωσιν θείαν, μέλπομεν Θωμαΐς σε, καὶ πιστῶς σοι βοῶμεν Χαῖρε τῆς νήσου Λέσβου, σεμνὸν ἐγκαλλώπισμα [from here].
Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone (amateur translation of the Greek text above)
The troubles of your life, as a rational offering, you offered to Christ, and the strength of miracles, O Righteous one, shone forth. Therefore as a a divine example of marriage, we praise you O Thomais, and faithfully cry out, Hail pure boast of the island of Lesvos.
Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!
A modern miracle (from Cyprus) of St. Thomaïs the Righteous of Lesvos
From here
My name is Maria P. and I'm from Cyprus. I wanted to relate my own experience of the love and providence of God with clarity and great emotion.
On January 2nd 2007 I entered a hospital in Athens for some tests, because the next day, January 3rd 2007, I was going to be operated on. It was supposed to be a routine surgery, about an hour, but the doctors however discovered another problem and complications, and as such the surgery took 4-5 hours. My family's agony was great.
As I later learned from my anesthesiologist, who was named Thomais, my life was in danger, but in the end everything was fine. My days in the hospital passed with some difficulty, but my consolation was that I felt a peace you could say, as if all of this was happening to another person. Indeed, I prayed continuously.
Ten days after I left the hospital, I saw the following dream. I saw that I was in a hospital room and next to me my doctor was sitting. With us was a woman dressed in white, with a white complexion and brown hair. I talked with this woman, who asked me for some clothes that I wanted to wear when I leave here. As she took the clothes, she turned and said to me: “You know, Maria, I did your surgery! I put in this red spiral tube so the food could descend to your stomach easier.” She told me other details surrounding my surgery and I was impressed that my doctor listened to her carefully without saying anything. The next morning, as soon as I got up, I went to look at the calendar to see which Saint is celebrated on January 3rd.
With astonishment I learned that our Church celebrates the memory of the martyr Thomais of Lesvos. I didn't know anything about this Saint, and because of this a very pious relative of mine came into contact with a priest in Mytilene, who told him that on January 3rd 2007, the day of my surgery, the Thyranoixia was performed on the Church of St. Thomais.
[ Note: The Thyranoixia, or "Gate-opening" is a short church service performed for a newly-built church. This church of St. Thomais in Lesvos, according to their website, is the first dedicated to the Saint (http://www2.aegean.gr/therapontas/main.php?goto=15&sub=232&val=234)]
When I mentioned this event to my anesthesiologist, she listened to me speechless, for that day (January 3rd 2007) strange things occurred, she told me, above the themes of her work, saying that an incredible power led her to see them.
In conclusion, I wanted to say, after this experience of mine I can't loose my faith in God before in the face of the dangers and the adversities of life. When Satan sends his demons to torment us, this God send His Saints to protect us. At my first opportunity I will go to Lesvos to venerate and thank St. Thomais who protected me, and from now on I celebrate her memory...”
(amateur translation of the Greek text here)
On January 2nd 2007 I entered a hospital in Athens for some tests, because the next day, January 3rd 2007, I was going to be operated on. It was supposed to be a routine surgery, about an hour, but the doctors however discovered another problem and complications, and as such the surgery took 4-5 hours. My family's agony was great.
As I later learned from my anesthesiologist, who was named Thomais, my life was in danger, but in the end everything was fine. My days in the hospital passed with some difficulty, but my consolation was that I felt a peace you could say, as if all of this was happening to another person. Indeed, I prayed continuously.
Ten days after I left the hospital, I saw the following dream. I saw that I was in a hospital room and next to me my doctor was sitting. With us was a woman dressed in white, with a white complexion and brown hair. I talked with this woman, who asked me for some clothes that I wanted to wear when I leave here. As she took the clothes, she turned and said to me: “You know, Maria, I did your surgery! I put in this red spiral tube so the food could descend to your stomach easier.” She told me other details surrounding my surgery and I was impressed that my doctor listened to her carefully without saying anything. The next morning, as soon as I got up, I went to look at the calendar to see which Saint is celebrated on January 3rd.
With astonishment I learned that our Church celebrates the memory of the martyr Thomais of Lesvos. I didn't know anything about this Saint, and because of this a very pious relative of mine came into contact with a priest in Mytilene, who told him that on January 3rd 2007, the day of my surgery, the Thyranoixia was performed on the Church of St. Thomais.
[ Note: The Thyranoixia, or "Gate-opening" is a short church service performed for a newly-built church. This church of St. Thomais in Lesvos, according to their website, is the first dedicated to the Saint (http://www2.aegean.gr/therapontas/main.php?goto=15&sub=232&val=234)]
When I mentioned this event to my anesthesiologist, she listened to me speechless, for that day (January 3rd 2007) strange things occurred, she told me, above the themes of her work, saying that an incredible power led her to see them.
In conclusion, I wanted to say, after this experience of mine I can't loose my faith in God before in the face of the dangers and the adversities of life. When Satan sends his demons to torment us, this God send His Saints to protect us. At my first opportunity I will go to Lesvos to venerate and thank St. Thomais who protected me, and from now on I celebrate her memory...”
(amateur translation of the Greek text here)
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