On the 10th of September, the Holy Orthodox Church commemorates the Holy Martyrs MENODORA, METRODORA AND NYMPHODORA

My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God and Savior,

CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.

On the 10th of September, the Holy Orthodox Church
commemorates the HOLY MARTYRS MENODORA,
METRODORA, AND NYMPHODORA.

They were three sisters from some place in Asian Bithynia. Brought up in a Christian spirit, they withdrew from the city into the desert, desiring to lift up their minds to God and free themselves from the illusory world, and thus to live their lives in purity and virginity as true brides of Christ. They gave themselves to fasting, prayer and toil, and God adorned them with the gift of Wonderworking. When people began to bring the sick to them for healing, they became known against their will. A certain governor, Fronton, heard of them and brought them to trial. Seeing them, the governor was amazed at their beauty, for, although they were nuns and their bodies were withered, their faces were radiant, illumined by an inner peace and the grace of God. The governor at first flattered them and promised to send them to the Emperor, who would give them in marriage to his nobles, but, when he realized that his flattery and promises were having no effect on these brides of Christ the Lord, he ordered that Menodora be put to torture and her sisters be thrown into prison. After harsh torture, the governor cried to Menodora, all wounded and covered in blood: ‘Offer sacrifice to the gods!’ To this the holy martyr replied: ‘Don’t you see that I am doing nothing but offering myself in sacrifice to my God?’ When she expired under torture, the governor brought out her two sisters and stood them beside Menodora’s dead body, and, pointing to it, urged them to deny Christ. AS they remained steadfast, he tortured them to death. At that, a thunderbolt fell from the sky and killed the soul-less Fronton and his servants. Christians buried the sacred bodies of these holy martyrs, who suffered some time between 305 and 311 A.D., in the time of the pagan Roman Emperor Galerius, and entered into rest in the Kingdom of Christ. [Resources: The Prologue from Ochrid]

Kontakion Hymn of the Saints. Fourth Tone

YE put the foe to flight with all his devices, when ye contended for
the Trinity bravely, as sisters bound in spirit with a sacred love.
Wherefore, ye are gone to dwell with the five prudent virgins in that
fair and glorious bridal chamber in Heaven; and, O prizewinners, ye
now stand before the King of All with the Angels in endless joy.

___________
"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!
+ Saint John Chrysostomos

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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George