Saint Christina of Tyre
القدّيسة خريستينا الفينيقيّة
Saint Christina [Gk. Χριστίνα, Ar. Ḵarîstînâ خريستينا] was born in the third century, to wealthy and politically-powerful senatorial parents. Her father Ourbanos, indeed, was the stratēgos (that is to say, the military governor) of Syria Phœnice, and her family lived in the capital city of Tyre (that is, Ṣûr in Lebanon). She was an exceptionally beautiful child, and by the time she turned eleven there were already offers of marriage for her from notable Phœnician families. Her father, however, had other plans for her: he wanted her to become a devotee of the pagan gods, and to this end he placed her in seclusion with two attendants in a beautiful dwelling with idols inside, to which she was commanded to offer incense daily.
Young Christina’s mind, however, was drawn not to the idols, but instead to the beauty of creation. She looked out her window at the stars and over the tops of the buildings and trees on the road, and wondered in what power, in what source these things had their being. She marvelled at the movements of nature; in her heart, she understood that the idols and the pagan gods they stood for could create nothing and could change nothing, since they were themselves the work of human hands. In her heart she turned to the God Whom she did not yet know, the God which created all, and asked Him to reveal Himself to her. She prayed to the unknown God, she wept in her beseeching, and she fasted from food – her soul blazed with love for the power that had created her, even though she did not know His name.
Christina’s hagiography tells us that she had a visitor, a messenger from God, who told her about Christ, Who was God Incarnate and Who came to save the world, and Who died upon the Cross and rose again to that purpose. This messenger told her that she was a bride of Christ, and told her of the suffering that she must soon endure for His sake. She took the idols that were in her room, smashed them, and hurled them out her window. Soon after this, Ourbanos came to visit his daughter. Seeing her room bare he asked what had happened to the idols; she did not answer him. And so Ourbanos asked her attendants what had happened, and they told him.
Enraged, Ourbanos struck Christina across the face. At first Christina stood silent, but as her father continued to beat her she confessed that she had been the one who had destroyed the idols in her room, because she believed in the one True God, the God who had created the world. In his fury, Ourbanos gave the order that her attendants be put to death, and had her cast into prison. While in prison, Christina was visited by her mother, who implored her with tears to return to the Roman pantheon and the cult of the Emperor. But even in the face of her mother’s tears Christina remained adamant in her faith. Ourbanos brought his own daughter to a military trial, and instructed her to offer incense to the Roman gods, to confess her guilt and to ask forgiveness for her sacrilege. But instead, Saint Christina unapologetically confessed nothing but her faith in Christ.
Ourbanos had her handed over to the executioners, who fixed her to an iron wheel beneath which was lit a fire. The executioners turned the wheel such that the young martyr’s flesh was seared on all sides. They cast her back into the prison. Again the messenger of God appeared to her, gave her food and healed her wounds, strengthening her for the sufferings that she must yet endure. The following day her father, seeing her unharmed, passed sentence that she was to be tethered to a heavy stone and drowned in the sea. The sentence was carried out. Again the angel came to Saint Christina’s aid, keeping her alive even submerged beneath the water, and she emerged again from there, alive and well. Her executioner, beholding this with dread, attributed her survival to sorcery.
The following day Ourbanos died. He was replaced as stratēgos by a man named Diōn, who was no better disposed to Saint Christina than her father had been. Diōn had Saint Christina brought before him, and he also tried to persuade her to worship the Roman gods, but to no avail. Seeing her unyielding steadfastness in the faith, he too subjected Saint Christina to cruel tortures, and had her cast into prison. During the long time she spent in prison many people came to visit her; she taught them from what she had learned of the angel of God. Around three hundred people in this way came to believe in Christ, and in this way too the holy martyr of God outlasted Diōn.
In Diōn’s place, Julian was appointed. Among the various tortures he visited upon her, he ordered an iron furnace to be fired until it was red-hot, and then had Saint Christina thrown and locked inside. She remained in the furnace for five days, and when the executioners came to fetch her out they found her alive and completely unharmed. Those who beheld this wonder of God came to believe in Christ themselves. At last the holy great martyr of God was beheaded with the sword; in this way the bride of Christ endured all her trials to the end. Holy greatmartyr Christina, confessor and sufferer for a God Whom you beheld with the eyes of faith, pray unto Christ for us that our souls might be saved!
Apolytikion for Saint Christina of Tyre, Tone 4:
Your lamb Christina calls out to You, O Jesus, in a loud voice:
‘I love You, my Bridegroom, and in seeking You I endure suffering.
In baptism I was crucified so that I might reign in You,
And I died so that I might live with You.
Accept me as a pure sacrifice,
For I have offered myself in love.’
Through her prayers save our souls, since You are merciful.
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