Holy Virgin-Martyr Febrōnia of Nisibis

Saint Febrōnia of Nisibis
القديسة فيفرونيا النصيبيني

The twenty-fifth of June in the Holy Orthodox Church is the feast-day of Saint Febrōnia, an early fourth-century virgin-martyr and great-martyr of Sēvapte in Assyria who suffered during the reign of Diocletian, and who is associated with Nisibis (that is, modern-day Nusaybin on the Turkish-Syrian border). She is one of the most revered and cherished Antiochian virgin-martyrs and is commemorated even in Rome.

Saint Febrōnia [Gk. Φεβρωυíα, L. Febronia, Ar. Fîfrûniyyah فيفرونيا] was born in 284. She was raised in an Assyrian monastery led by the Abbess Bryenē, who was also her aunt. Because Mother Bryenē was concerned for her niece’s salvation, she subjected Febrōnia to a stricter rule of life than she did the other nuns. According to the rule of the monastery, the nuns were not to do any work on Fridays, and instead listen to the Holy Scriptures on that day. The abbess often appointed the young Febrōnia to do the readings on Fridays. The word of Febrōnia’s piety quickly spread through the city, and she began to receive visits from people who sought her prayers. One of these was a wealthy pagan widow of Sēvapte whose name was Ieria. Through the guidance and prayers of the young Febrōnia, Ieria began to believe in Christ and sought holy baptism. In this way Ieria brought her whole family, including her parents, into the Church.

The pagan emperor Diocletian sent a detachment of soldiers into Assyria in order to destroy the Christian faith there. The leaders of this detachment were Lysimachos, Selēnos and Primos. Selēnos was known in particular for his ferocious attitude toward the Christian people; however, his nephew Lysimachos was of a rather different mind, and his mother had inculcated in him a sympathy for the Christian faith – she having accepted the Faith before her own repose. Lysimachos had discussed with his kinsman Primos how best to save the Christians from the hands of the torturer.

As the detachment of soldiers approached the monastery, the nuns hid – all of them except three. These three were the Abbess Bryenē, her helper Thōmaïs… and Saint Febrōnia, who at that time was taken with an illness and could not hide herself. The two elderly nuns were afraid that the soldiers, when they saw Febrōnia, would defile her, and they prayed fervently to the Lord that He might preserve her and strengthen her in faith to face whatever might come. Selēnos handed down orders to search the cloister and bring all the nuns before him. Primos led his detachment of soldiers and dutifully searched, and found only the three nuns who had stayed. He regretted that they had not hidden themselves, and offered them a chance to escape while his men were busy elsewhere; however, the nuns all answered him that they would not quit the place of their labours and that they would trust in the Lord.

Primos sought out Lysimachos with a plan to preserve Febrōnia, at least. He told Lysimachos of Febrōnia’s great beauty, and suggested to him that he could preserve her from the torturer if he would marry her. Lysimachos, however, answered that he would not seduce a virgin who had been consecrated to God, and he asked Primos to take the other nuns into hiding to escape the notice of Selēnos. But one of the soldiers overheard this conversation and reported it to their uncle. The soldiers found Bryenē first and drew their swords, but Febrōnia put her body between them and her aunt. The soldiers then shackled her hands, placed a heavy iron collar on her neck and led her before Selēnos before a great multitude of townsfolk. The pagan general offered Febrōnia rich rewards and high status if she would recant her faith in Christ and marry Lysimachos. But Febrōnia answered him roundly that she would not exchange the Æternal Bridegroom for any such worldly honour. And so Selēnos delivered her over to the executioners to be tortured. The saint of God cried out then: ‘My Saviour, do not abandon me in this terrible hour!’

Saint Febrōnia was stripped naked and mocked by the soldiers, and then beaten repeatedly until the blood flowed from her wounds and around her wrists where she was still shackled. They then built a fire underneath her, burning her flesh. The townsfolk of Sēvapte were moved to pity the innocent girl, and seeing the cruelty of her tortures they began to shout out for Selēnos to have mercy and release her. However, the tyrannical commander’s heart was hardened against them, and he told the soldiers to lash her to a post, beat and scourge Febrōnia until the flesh was shorn from her bones, and to continue the burnings to her limbs. Saint Febrōnia grew faint from these tortures and fell silent. Selēnos ordered her tongue to be cut out, but when the executioner was unable to do this, he ordered that her mouth be battered and her teeth broken, and at last to sever her hands and feet. The executioner was clumsy in this and it took him three attempts with the axe to cut off one of her feet. At that, the people in the crowd began to openly curse Diocletian and his gods, and they left the amphitheatre in disgust.

Among the crowd were Ieria, who was Febrōnia’s student and had been baptised, and also the nun Thōmaïs, who would later commit the sufferings of the martyr to writing in detail. Ieria stood forth from the crowd and scolded Selēnos for his inhumanity. Selēnos gave orders for the soldiery to arrest Ieria, but upon learning that she was a woman of wealth and political standing in Sēvapte and whom he could not easily torture without endangering his own position, instead he told her: ‘Then you, by your speech, have brought on Febrōnia even greater torment.’ And he gave the signal for the executioner to behead Febrōnia. Thus the martyr gained her laurels and went at once to the Lord for whom she had endured to the end.

Lysimachos, having seen his uncle’s brutality, left the place of execution and went into his quarters and wept. Selēnos left the place of execution to eat food, but found himself unable to swallow. Upon looking up he fell into a fit of derangement, and in his fit he bashed his head against a marble column and died. Hearing this, Lysimachos said: ‘Great is the God of the Christians, who has avenged Febrōnia’s blood, so unrighteously shed!’ He then prepared a coffin for the martyr, laid her remains in it as decently as he could, and bore it back to the monastery.

Upon seeing her niece’s remains, Abbess Bryenē fainted. But when she had regained her strength she ordered that the monastery gates be opened that all might come inside and venerate the holy martyr of God, who had given her such endurance in her sufferings for Christ’s sake. Lysimachos and Primos both renounced their uncle’s paganism, accepted baptism and took monastic vows. Ieria came into the monastery, placed all her worldly goods at the nuns’ disposal, and asked Bryenē to take Febrōnia’s place among the nuns there. Soon after her death, Mâr Ya‘qûb an-Nusaybîni built a church in Nisibis, and translated a portion of her relics within. This was apparently at the same time he was serving there as a malfâna and opening a public school for the children of Nisibis; the hagiographic tale and example of Saint Febrōnia was no doubt of great edification to his students. At the monastery itself, her feast-day was kept as a solemn occasion, and Febrōnia herself appeared to the nuns each year at the all-night vigil in her honour. Many wonders were wrought by her relics among those who sought her out in faith. In the year 363, these relics were translated to Constantinople. Holy and great virgin-martyr Febrōnia, who endured great sufferings and torment from the lawless legal authorities of pagan Rome, intercede for us today with Christ your Bridegroom that our souls may be saved!

Apolytikion of Holy Martyr Febrōnia, Tone 3:

Like a fragrant rose in the ascetic life,
You breathed forth the myrrh of Christ.
Therefore He has glorified you as a righteous martyr, O Febrōnia.
Now intercede with Him for those who cry:
‘Rejoice, O noble and blessed martyr!’