Justin Appel

Dear Friends,

Today is the feast day of Saint Euphrosyne of Alexandria, the only daughter of wealthy Alexandrian in the fifth century. Our daily lectionary presents this brief story about her life:

Euphrosyne's father expected her to marry a wealthy young man. However, Euphrosyne really desired to enter holy orders, and so she secretly received the veil. Disguising herself as a man, she hid in a men's monastery, taking the name Smaragdus. There she continued her ascetic labors for the rest of her life.

As one might imagine, her father, Paphnutius, was grieved by his daughter's disappearance and later sought for comfort from his local abbot. As the story goes, the abbot assigned the monk Smaragdus to him, and thus, Euphrosyne was able to comfort her father by giving advice and exhortation. Only later, when Ephrosyne was ill and dying, did she reveal her true identity to her father. Paphnutius buried his daughter when she died, and he too became a monk. He lived and worked in his daughter's cell for another ten years before he died.

Stories like this sometimes seem a bit unlikely or fantastical, but perhaps this is because it is easy to lose a certain receptivity needed to embrace the essential kernel of hagiographic stories. Like so many other saints' accounts, Euphrosyne's example teaches us about the importance of following Christ regardless of obstacles and about radical self-sacrifice.

Yours in Christ,
Justin