Great Martyr Christina of Tyre

3rd century

Also known as Christina the Great Martyr

The daughter of the governor of Tyre, shut up by her father in a tower with idols of gold and silver; coming to know the true God, she broke the idols and gave the pieces to the poor, and through fearful torments at the hands of her father and two governors held fast to Christ unto death.

July 24New Calendar

Feast Day

August 6Old Calendar

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Commemorated as

The Holy, Glorious Great-Martyr Christina of Tyre

Life

Christina of Tyre was a third-century martyr venerated as a Great Martyr in the Eastern Orthodox Church. According to her tradition, she was the daughter of Urban (Urbanus), the governor of Tyre, and came from a wealthy family.

Intending her to serve as a pagan priestess, her father confined her in a tower furnished with idols of gold and silver. Coming to know the true God, she destroyed the idols, and for her confession of Christ she endured prolonged tortures, first at her father's hands and afterward under his successors, before dying a martyr.

In the Western Church she is venerated as Christina of Bolsena, where her relics are kept; her feast is observed on July 24.

Kontakion & Troparion2 hymnsReadHide

KontakionTone 4

(Podoben: “You were lifted up on the Cross...”) You appeared as a luminous dove with golden wings,
and flew to the heights of heaven, O revered Christina, and came to rest.
We faithfully celebrate your glorious feast
and venerate the shrine of your relics,
from which divine healing of souls and bodies flows abundantly for all.

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

TroparionTone 5

(Podoben: “Come, let us worship the Word...”) You abandoned your father's error, most revered one,
you received divine illumination,
and were betrothed to Christ as a glorious virgin;
therefore, you contested steadfastly and overcame the Enemy, O Great Martyr Christina.
Pray unceasingly that we may receive great mercy.

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

Timeline4 momentsReadHide

3rd centuryBirth in TyreChristina is born in Tyre into a wealthy family, the daughter of Urban, a governor.
3rd centuryConfined with idolsHer father shuts her in a tower furnished with gold and silver idols, intending her for the pagan priesthood.
3rd centuryConversion and destruction of the idolsComing to know the true God, Christina breaks the idols and confesses Christ, provoking her father's persecution.
3rd centuryMartyrdomAfter prolonged tortures under her father and the governors who succeeded him, she dies a martyr, pierced with arrows or lances.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

Conversion and Confession

Christina was born in Tyre in the third century into a wealthy family. Her father, Urban, was a governor (described in some accounts as a general). When her beauty drew many suitors, he resolved that she should become a pagan priestess and shut her in a tower stocked with gold and silver idols, commanding her to offer incense before them, with servants attending her.

By tradition she came to recognize the futility of the idols through contemplation of the beauty of creation and the heavens. An angel is said to have visited her, instructing her in the Christian faith and calling her a bride of Christ. She broke all the idols in her chamber; by the anchor account she gave the pieces to the poor, while other accounts say she threw them from the window. When the servants disclosed what she had done, her father turned against her.

Martyrdom

Her father subjected her to severe punishment. Tradition records that he had her bound to an iron wheel with fire set beneath it, and later attempted to drown her in the sea weighted with a stone; by these accounts she survived both, and her father died soon afterward.

Under his successors the torments continued. The governor Dion is said to have inflicted further tortures upon her, during which, while imprisoned, she is reported to have brought many people to the faith. A governor named Julian is said to have ordered her shut in a heated furnace for several days, from which she emerged unharmed. Accounts of her death vary: she is described as having been pierced with arrows or with soldiers' lances, the attribute of three arrows being associated with her in Western iconography.

Relics & Shrines

In the Western tradition Christina is venerated as Christina of Bolsena, and her principal shrine is the Basilica of Santa Cristina in Bolsena, Italy. Archaeological evidence from the catacombs at Bolsena attests to her veneration by the fourth century.

Relics associated with her are also reported at Toffia in the Province of Rieti, at Santa Cristina Gela near Palermo, and at the Maronite Cathedral in Tyre, Lebanon.

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints