St. Demiana and Forty Virgins

St. Demiana was born in 3 rd century Egypt to devoted Christian parents. St. Demiana’s mother departed at an early age and her father became her caretaker.

At the age of fifteen, her father was insistent on marrying her to one of his noble friends, but St. Demiana refused. St. Demiana preferred to devote her life to God and had no intentions of getting married in the future. St. Demiana grew up as an only child in a wealthy family and could’ve lived a luxurious life, but instead she chose to sacrifice it all for God. Later, St. Demiana’s. wish was granted when her father built her and her forty friends a palace to be away from the world, in which she was the leader of.

The Roman Emperor asked St. Demiana’s father to offer incense to the idols. At first he refused, but later agreed to worship idols after he was offered a higher position in the Roman Empire. St. Demiana heard the news and told her father that if he doesn’t return to his faith then he can consider her not his daughter. Her father then declared his true faith to the emperor and was later ordered to be killed and received the crown of martyrdom.

The news of St. Demiana’s purity reached the emperor and he sent an army to her palace to try and change her faith. When this did not work, he ordered her to be tortured. During that night, Archangel Michael appeared and healed her, this cycle repeated for many days. The day before her martyrdom, Jesus Christ himself appeared to St. Demiana and told her of her rewards for her great struggle. The next day, the commander ordered her beheading along with the forty virgins and she received the crown of martyrdom.