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St. Matrona, Martyr of Thessalonica The holy martyr Matrona was Thessalonica, a slave of the Judean woman, the wife of a military dignitary in Thessalonica. And the mistress often forced her to leave Christianity, beating her. Once accompanying the lady to the synagogue, she did not enter the synagogue, but avoided praying in the Christian church. “Why didn’t you go to our synagogue, but went to the Christian church?” - asked the lady. Matrona: “because God lives in the Christian church, but He has retreated from the synagogue.” Then the mistress beat her severely and tied her up, imprisoned her in a dark closet, left her without food for many days, took her out again and scourged her mercilessly, and forced her to renounce Christ. When she was not convinced, she again imprisoned her in the church, where the saint died. Her body was thrown from the city wall by the mistress, but Christians buried it at night, and subsequently Bishop Alexander (IV century) built a church in her name inside the city and transferred the saint’s relics there. Ave. John the seer, hermit and hermit of Egypt Before his removal from the world, John lived in the Egyptian city of Lycopolis and was engaged in carpentry. From the age of 20, he began to wander around monasteries, learning from the works of monastic life. About forty years old, he retired near Lycopolis, in Thebaid, on Wolf Mountain, where he remained for the next fifty years until his death, eating only roots, and in his last years hiding in seclusion. Through his asceticism, John reached that degree of spirituality at which the soul acquires insight and the gift of miracles. “He talked a lot with those who visited him and commanded them most of all to have humility. With useful teachings, edifying stories and an example of life equal to the angels, St. John brought much benefit to people. – He became famous for his many fulfilled predictions, among other things, for his predictions of victories for Emperor Theodosius the Great. Before his death, John commanded his disciples not to come to him until three days. When three days later the brethren came to him, they found him gone to the Lord. He stood on his knees, as if in prayer.