Память святой мученицы Фомаиды

The holy martyr Thomaida was born in the city of Alexandria from pious parents, who gave their daughter a truly Christian upbringing and taught her to read books. In her fifteenth year they married her to a Christian youth. In her husband’s house, Saint Thomaida lived honestly, respected by everyone for her chastity, meekness, kindness and other good character traits. Together with them, the father of Saint Thomaida’s husband, her father-in-law, lived under the same roof. Seduced by the beauty of his daughter-in-law and inflamed by carnal lust, he, through the action of Satan, plotted evil towards her: he looked for a convenient time for a sinful stay with her and, not finding it, limited himself to hugging and kissing her every day, under the guise of fatherly affection. Saint Thomaida, in her chastity, did not assume that her father-in-law had unclean thoughts and therefore did not find anything reprehensible in such treatment of her on his part: she was sure that it stemmed from his love for her as a daughter, and, honoring her father-in-law as a father, she behaved towards him with especially strict modesty. The husband of Saint Thomaida was a fisherman, and one night his fellow fishermen came and took him with them to fish. Taking advantage of his son’s departure, his father came to Saint Thomaida and began to persuade her to sin. Such an unexpected danger terrified her, and she began to resist the crazy old man, saying: -What are you doing, father? Make the sign of the cross and leave: your plan was inspired in you by Satan. But the elder did not heed her admonitions and tried to persuade her, resorting to shameless words and actions. Saint Thomaida, filled with the fear of God and chastity, offered firm resistance to her father-in-law: she begged and convinced him to abandon his lawless and wicked desire. But the more she resisted him, the more persistently he forced her, fueled by unclean lust like fire. A sword hung on the wall above the bed; Having taken it off and taken it out of its sheath, the elder began to frighten Saint Thomaida, addressing her with the following threats: “If you don’t listen to me, then I will cut off your head with this very sword.” “Even if you cut me into pieces, I will still never agree to such a lawless deed.” The elder, having flown into a strong rage after these words, struck his daughter-in-law with such force that he killed her, cutting her in two. Blessed Thomaida surrendered her soul into the hands of God and received the glorious crown of martyrdom for her purity and chastity: she fought against sin until she shed her own blood and laid down her soul for the law of God, agreeing to die rather than anger God and desecrate her body and the bed of her husband. The murderer immediately suffered God's punishment: blinded by his soul, he lost his sight and, throwing away the sword, looked for doors, although he could leave the house and run away without a trace, but, feeling the walls, he could not find a way out and therefore was forced to stay in the room. Meanwhile, other fishermen came and knocked, calling his son to go fishing. The father answered: – My son has already left to fish; show me the doors because I can't find them. They opened the door, entered and saw an old man with bloody hands and clothes, trying to feel his way out, and his wife lying in blood on the ground, cut in two. They were horrified by this sight and asked: -What does this mean? Who committed such an atrocity and why? Then the elder told them about his sin and asked to take him to the judge in order to receive a punishment worthy of his deeds. When Saint Thomaida’s husband returned from work and learned about what had happened, he felt inconsolable grief and shame: he mourned his chaste wife and was ashamed of his lawless father, who, without fearing God, committed a heinous crime and covered his gray hairs with shame. The elder was put on trial and punished by beheading with a sword. And many people from the inhabitants of Alexandria flocked to the body of the murdered woman; they all marveled at such an incredible and terrible event and praised the chastity of Saint Thomaida. By chance, at this time the Monk Daniel of the monastery was in Alexandria; he told his student: “My son, let’s go and look at the holy girl.” Having fulfilled their desire, they went to the Octodecat, i.e. eightieth, monastery. The monks of this monastery met the reverend father with honor, sincerely welcoming him. Having told them about the sufferings of Saint Thomaida, he gave them the following command: “Go and bring her honest body here, for it should not lie with worldly people, but with honest fathers.” Some of the brethren were outraged by the command to lay the woman’s body with their fathers. The monk said to them: “The young woman whom you do not want to bring here is the mother of me and you: after all, she died for her chastity.” Then the monks no longer dared to resist the holy father; they went and, taking the body of Saint Thomaida, buried it with honor in the monastery tomb. After saying goodbye to all the fathers, the monk retired with his disciple to his monastery. One brother in his monastery was experiencing strong attacks from carnal temptations; Having come to the Monk Daniel, he revealed to him his strong struggle with carnal passions. The monk told him: - Go to the Octodecat monastery and pray like this in the monastery tomb: God, through the prayers of the martyr Thomaida, help me and deliver me from fornication! Trust in God, and you will get rid of temptations,” added the reverend father. The brother went and did exactly everything that the Monk Daniel told him, and indeed completely freed himself from carnal temptations. Returning to the monastery, he fell at the feet of the Monk Daniel and said to him: “Through the prayers of the holy martyr Thomaida and yours, Father, God delivered me from fornication. - How did you get rid of them? - Having made twelve prayers and anointed myself with oil from the lamp located at the tomb of the holy martyr, I laid my head on her tomb and fell asleep, and then a bright young woman, Saint Thomaida, appeared to me and said: “Father, accept this blessing and go in peace to your cell”; I accepted the blessing and woke up, feeling finally liberated from carnal passion; I don’t know what the holy blessing given to me in a dream actually means, but I am well aware of my deliverance from passions. The Monk Daniel said, after his brother finished his story: – Those who strive for chastity have such great boldness before God. The rest of his life, the brother never experienced temptations from the flesh and glorified God and the holy martyr Thomaida, his healer. Others, troubled by similar passions, did the same: coming to the tomb of the holy martyr Thomaida, they received relief and liberation from carnal passions through her holy prayers; they glorified the holy martyr, glorifying at the same time Christ the Lord, to Him with the Father and the Holy Spirit honor and worship forever. Amen. You might be interested in: