Our Daughter’s Saint: Charitina of Amisus
Aug 20th, 2007 by michelle
After being unable to find a saint with the name Grace, we spoke with our priest about saints whose names mean Grace in another language; we came up with Saint Charitina.
St. Charitina of Amisus was a virgin from Asia Minor, distinguished by
strict chastity and piety. St Charitina spent her life in fasting, prayer and study. By her example she converted many to Christianity during the reign of Emperor Diocletian and was seized in 302 A.D. in the city of Amisus in Pontus. After torture, death, burial and descicration her body was thrown into the sea in the year 304 a martyr.
Orphaned young, she was adopted by an eminent Christian man called Claudius the pious, who brought her up as his own daughter. Charitina was meek, humble, obedient and silent. She studied the law of God day and night and vowed to live in perpetual virginity as a true bride of Christ. But, Charitina having brought others to the Christian faith, the Emperor Diocletians’s governor, Dometius, heard of her and sent soldiers to take her from her foster-father for trial. The judge asked her: ‘Is it true, little girl, that you are a Christian, and that you delude others by bringing them to this dishonourable faith?’ Charitina courageously replied: ‘It is true that I am a Christian, and a lie that I delude others. I lead those in error to the way of truth, bringing them to my Christ.’ The wicked judge ordered that her hair be cut off and live coals put on her head, but the maiden was preserved by God’s power. They threw her into the sea, but God delivered her from it. She was bound to a wheel which began to turn, but an angel of God stopped the wheel and Charitina remained unharmed. Then the wicked judge sent some dissolute youths to rape her. Fearing this dishonour, St Charitina prayed to God to receive her soul before these dissolute men could foul her virginal body and so, while she was kneeling in prayer, her soul went out from her body to the immortal Kingdom of Christ. She is commemorated on October 5th.
Kontakion of St Charitina
Thou didst arm thy soul with faith and knowledge and put the enemy to open shame. Thou didst stand before Christ in a robe dyed with thy blood and art now rejoicing with the Angels. Pray for us, Martyr Charitina.
Grace’s baptism will be on Sunday, September 2nd at 9am
Oh, that is exciting! Our kids were baptized several months ago, and we kept their names, but I would like to try to find icons for them. Alethea is Greek and means truth, and there were a few different saints named Peregrine, although I’ve not seen any icons. I’m sure we’ll come up with something. We’re very slowly introducing icons into our home, and are a ways off from having an icon corner still! One step at a time!