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Venerable-Martyr2nd century

Eudokia of Heliopolis

1st-2nd century (traditionally died AD 107)

Also known as Eudocia of Heliopolis · Evdokia

A Samaritan woman of Heliopolis in Phoenicia who had led a sinful and worldly life before her conversion to Christ, after which she gave her wealth to the poor, embraced monastic asceticism, and was beheaded for her faith.

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Commemorated as

The Holy Venerable-Martyr Eudokia of Heliopolis

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Healing

Life

Eudokia of Heliopolis was a Samaritan woman of Heliopolis in Phoenicia, a city identified with present-day Baalbek in Lebanon. According to her vita she spent her early years in a worldly and sinful life, drawing wealthy patrons and amassing considerable wealth before her conversion to Christ.

Her conversion is attributed to a monk named Germanus, who taught her the faith; the tradition relates that she withdrew for a period of fasting and prayer before being baptized by Theodotus, bishop of Heliopolis. After her baptism she renounced her former manner of life, distributed her wealth to charitable ends, and embraced monastic asceticism near Heliopolis.

She is commemorated as a venerable-martyr, having been beheaded for her faith. The synaxarion tradition dates her martyrdom to the year 107, placing her among the ante-Nicene saints of the early Church. Her feast is kept on March 1.

Kontakion & Troparion2 hymnsReadHide
KontakionTone 4

You contended well in your suffering, all-praised one;
even after your death you bless us, pouring out wonders on us.
In faith we run to your divine temple,
and as we celebrate your feast, we entreat you, venerable martyr Eudokia,
that we be delivered from spiritual afflictions and may receive the grace of miracles.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

TroparionTone 8

With an upright mind you bound your soul to the love of Christ.
As a disciple of the Word you turned from corruption and all that passes away,
for you were not moved by earthly beauty.
First you mortified the passions through fasting, then you put the enemy to shame by your suffering.
Therefore, Christ has granted you a two-fold crown.
Glorious Eudokia, venerable passion-bearer, entreat Christ God that our souls may be saved!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline4 momentsReadHide
  1. Early lifeWorldly life at HeliopolisA Samaritan woman of Heliopolis in Phoenicia, Eudokia lived a sinful and worldly life and gathered great wealth before her conversion.
  2. ConversionInstruction by the monk Germanus and baptismBy tradition the monk Germanus taught her the Christian faith; after a period of fasting and prayer she was baptized by Theodotus, bishop of Heliopolis, having received a vision.
  3. After baptismRenunciation and monastic lifeShe gave her wealth to charitable ends, put aside her former life, and took up monastic asceticism in a community near Heliopolis.
  4. Traditionally AD 107MartyrdomDrawing the hostility of the authorities, she was beheaded for her faith. The tradition dates her martyrdom to the year 107.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

Conversion and Ascetic Life

The accounts of Eudokia's life recount that she was a Samaritan by background and had grown wealthy through a worldly and immoral manner of living. The decisive turn came through a monk named Germanus, who instructed her in the Christian faith; tradition relates that she spent a period in solitude, fasting and praying, before her baptism by Theodotus, the bishop of Heliopolis, who is said to have baptized her after she experienced a heavenly vision.

Having been baptized, she renounced her former life and distributed much of her wealth to the poor and to charitable works. She entered the monastic life near Heliopolis, in the region of Baalbek, where by tradition she founded or joined a monastic community and aided those who came seeking her help.

Miracles and Traditional Accounts

Her vita relates that a persistent suitor named Philostratus pursued her and was struck down; at her prayer he was restored, and he afterward became a Christian. Such accounts are transmitted as part of the traditional narrative of her life rather than as independently documented events.

In the wider hagiographical tradition Eudokia is associated with wonders following her conversion, including, by some accounts, the raising of the dead. These are related as traditional material in the synaxaria.

Martyrdom and Veneration

The hostility of the civil authorities, provoked by her Christian witness and the conversions attributed to her, led to her arrest and execution by beheading. The tradition names a governor, given as Vincentius, as her persecutor, and dates her death to the year 107.

Eudokia is venerated as a venerable-martyr, a title combining her monastic asceticism with her death for the faith. As a saint of the early, ante-Nicene Church, she is commemorated on March 1.

Companions2 figuresShowHide
The ascetic who instructed Eudokia in the Christian faith and brought about her conversion (an early figure distinct from the later Germanus of Dacia Pontica).
The monk Germanus
not commemorated
The bishop who baptized Eudokia after her period of fasting and prayer, receiving her into the Church.
Theodotus, Bishop of Heliopolis
not commemorated
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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints