Saint Lucia (also known as Lucy) of Syracuse in Sicily, was a martyr under the persecution of Emperor Diocletian. She suffered early in the 4th century, at about the age of 20, after she refused to marry a pagan. Her feast is celebrated on December 13,...

Saint Olga was born on February 3, 1916, in the Yup'ik village of Kwethluk, Alaska. Her family herded reindeer, and Olga (Arrsamquq, her Yup'ik name) loved spending time in the mountains as a child, playing with her six brothers. She married her...

Saint Abigail (also known as Gobnait or Gobnata) was born in Ireland around the beginning of the sixth century. After seeing a vision of white deer, she was granted land to build a women's monastery at Ballyvourney. As abbess, she was known for gifts...

Ruth lived about the 13th century before Christ. She was the great-grandmother of David, the King of Israel. During a time of famine in Israel, Elimelech and Naomi of Bethlehem took their sons and traveled to the nearby country of Moab. Elimelech died,...

Saint Hilda was born in 614 in the north of modern England. She was a relative of King Edwin of Northumbria, who became a Christian about 627. At the age of 33, Hilda became a nun under the guidance of Saint Aidan of Lindisfarne. She learned the...

Saint Susanna  is mentioned in the Gospel of Luke as one of the women-disciples who followed the Lord and paid for his expenses throughout His ministry. She was one of the Myrrh-bearing Women who followed Christ, and saw the angel at the tomb...

Barbara, born in the third century in Syria, was so beautiful that her pagan father placed her in an isolated tower to keep her innocent of any influence except his own until she could be married. Like St. Christina, Barbara also came to realize...

The holy Virgin Martyr Paraskevi (or Paraskeva) was born in Rome in the 2nd century to Christian parents. From her earliest years she was devout, spending much of her time in prayer and reading the Scriptures. After her parents' death, she dedicated...

Mother Maria (Skobtsova) was a native of Latvia, born in 1891. As a teenager, she was drawn to the teachings of the Socialists. Eventually her concern for the poor led her back to her faith in Christ, and she returned to her native Russian Orthodox...

Also known as Parasceva the New, Parascheva of Moldova, or Petka of Serbia, this 11th century ascetic is one of the most beloved saints of the Balkans. Her relics are enshrined in Iasi, Romania, where a procession occurs each year on her feast...

Saint Chloe was a citizen of Corinth and a co-worker of the Apostle Paul. She was concerned about divisions forming within the Church of that city, and she rushed to Ephesus to ask Saint Paul for help (I Corinthians 1:11). From this, we can see that...

Saint Nina (also spelled Nino or Nune) was born in Cappadocia about the year 280. She was a relative of Saint George. Her parents sold their possessions, moved to Jerusalem, and entered the monastic life. Nina was left in the care of an old woman who...

Saint Mary lived in the fifth century. As a girl, she left her Christian family in order to follow her pleasures in unbridled sinful living. At one point she joined a group of pilgrims to Jerusalem, selling herself in exchange for passage. When they...

Saint Elizabeth was the wife of Righteous Zacharias the high priest and the mother of Saint John the Forerunner. She was a descendent of Aaron and a sister of Saint Anna, the mother of the Theotokos. She was barren, but the Lord heard the prayers...

This historic Byzantine icon of the Myrrh-bearers at the Tomb recall the scene as reported by the Four Gospels.  After the Resurrection, the Myrrh-bearing Women came to the tomb. They found the soldiers fallen as dead, the stone rolled away, and an...

Saint Monica was born about the year 330. She had a gentle disposition and always kept guard of her tongue, and by this she avoided the wrath of her short-tempered pagan husband. Monica desired to have her three children baptized, but her husband would...

Barbara, born in the third century in Syria, was so beautiful that her pagan father placed her in an isolated tower to keep her innocent of any influence except his own until she could be married. Like St. Christina, Barbara also came to realize...

Saint Marina the Great Martyr was from Antioch in Pisidia. She suffered under Diocletian in the 3rd century. She is commemorated on July 17. Margaret, Maggie, Megan, and Meghan are all forms of the same name.

The holy Great-Martyr Anastasia was born in Rome in the 2nd century under the Diocletian persecution. Her father was a pagan, but her mother was a secret Christian and arranged for Anastasia to be educated in the Faith by a pious Christian named...