Evgenia Rimskaya

According to the life of the saint, according to the four-minute Dimitry of Rostov ^[1] , in the seventh year of the reign of the Roman emperor Commodus , who inherited the throne after his father Marcus Aurelius , a certain famous nobleman named Philip was appointed ruler of all Egypt. Having received such an appointment, Philip moved with his wife Claudius and with children from Rome to Alexandria. He had two sons, Avit and Sergius, and his only daughter, Eugene.

Eugene received an excellent education and was distinguished by her good disposition and beauty. Many noble young men sought her hand, but she did not want to marry. Acquainted with the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, she wholeheartedly rushed to Christianity and secretly from her parents, accompanied by her two slaves, Prot and Iakinf, dressed in men's clothes, withdrew to the monastery. There she and her slaves and companions received holy Baptism from Bishop Elijah, who was revealed about her in a vision, and he blessed her to work in the monastery in the form of monk Eugene. With his exploits, Saint Eugene acquired the gift of healing. Once a rich young widow Melania turned to her for help. Seeing the young monk, this woman ignited unclean passion, but when she was rejected, she invented slander about an attempted violence. Saint Eugene appeared in court with the ruler of Egypt, that is, with her father, and was forced to reveal her secret. Her relatives were delighted to find the one that had been mourned for a long time. After some time, they all received holy Baptism. But Philip, according to the denunciation of the Gentiles, was removed from the post of ruler. The Alexandrian Christians elected him as their bishop. The new ruler, fearing popular anger, did not openly execute Philip, but sent the killers. During the solitary prayer of the bishop, wounds were inflicted on him, from which he died martyrly three days later.

Widowed, Claudia with her daughter and servants left for her estate, which was located in the vicinity of Rome. There, Eugene continued monastic life. She brought many virgins to Christ, and Claudius set up a strange house and served widows. After several quiet years, the emperor Gallien (260-268) again began the persecution of Christians, and many of them found refuge with the saints Claudius and Eugenia. At that time, an orphaned young Roman from the royal family, Vasilla, hearing about the Christians and about Saint Eugene, wanted to meet the saint and wrote her a letter. In response, Saint Eugenia sent her friends and associates, Prota and Iakinf, who enlightened Vasilla, and she received holy Baptism. The servant of Vasilla told her fiance Pompey that his bride had become a Christian, and Pompey complained to the emperor of Christians preaching celibacy. Conducted to account, Vasilla refused to marry Pompey, and for this she was stabbed with a sword. Saints Protus and Jacinth were dragged to a Roman temple for sacrifice, but as soon as they entered there, the idol fell and crashed. The holy martyrs Prot and Iakinf were beheaded.

Saint Eugene was also forcibly brought to the temple of Diana, but before she had time to enter it, as all the temple with the idol collapsed. The holy martyr was thrown into the Tiber with a stone around her neck, but the stone fell, and she remained unharmed. She remained unharmed in the fire. Then she was thrown into the ditch, where she was 10 days. At this time, the Savior Himself appeared to her and announced that she would enter the kingdom of heaven on the day of the birth of Christ. When this bright holiday came in 262, the executioner killed the holy martyr with a sword. Soon she received the martyr's crown and St. Claudius. Rev. Martyr Eugene warned her about the day of death.

In Orthodoxy, the day of remembrance of the Martyr Eugenia is December 24 ( January 6 ), and in the Roman Catholic Church on December 24.

Starting from the V century. the legend of Eugene, thanks to storylines borrowed from folklore, became widespread throughout the Christian world. In Martyrology blj. Jerome (1st half of the 5th century) noted that Eugene was buried "in Rome, on the Latin road , in the cemetery of Aproniana." 7th-century Roman itinerary reports that a basilica was built over the grave, which was rebuilt by Popes John VII (705–707), Adrian I (772–795) and Leo III (795–816), and then disappeared. The place where the Apronian cemetery was located and the grave of the saint was located, could not be established.

Currently, the relics of Eugenia are in the Church of the Twelve Apostles in Rome. Particles of the relics of Eugenia are available at the navy monastery. Barbaras (island of Cyprus) and in Greece, in the monasteries of the Life-giving Source on the island of Andros and the Holy Trinity in Koropi (Meinardus. 1970. P. 176) ^[2] .

Images of Eugenia in mosaics in Greece, Italy (Ravenna, Naples) and Croatia (Porec) indicate the spread of her veneration outside Rome. The veneration of the saint was strengthened in the time of the bishop. Avita of Vienna (c. 450 - c. 518 or 525). Hymns in honor of Eugenia were written by Venantius Fortunat (VI c.), Adelman (? C.), Flodoard (X c.).

Eugenia is dedicated to the largest of the poetic texts in the composition of the Greek verse sinaxar (the so-called hundred verses), which later became famous. Stichy Prologue ^[3] .

One of the most famous European literary processions of the life of the PrMC. Eugenia is considered the novel by Gottfried Keller "Eugenia" (Eugenia) from the collection " Seven Legends " ( 1872 ).

Martyrdom prmts. Eugenia was written in lat. language probably no later than con. V century (BHL, N 2667). There is also his early Greek. version in 3 versions (BHG, N 607w - 607z), which served as the basis for the synaxar legends and the eastern editions of Life E.: Armenian (BHO, N 281), Syrian (BHO, N 282), Ethiopian (BHO, N 283–284 ) By the eighth century 2nd lat appeared. Life written by Rufin of Aquileia (Pseudo-Rufin) (BHL, N 2666). Its text is close to late Greek. version of the Martyrdom of E., traditionally attributed to St. Simeon Metafrast (X century). This suggests that Metafrast reworked the already existing buckwheat. translation lat. The Life of E. Pseudo-Rufin ^[2]