Our Holy Mother Apollinaria.

Commemorated January 5 in the Orthodox Christian Menaion

From the Prologue

She was the elder daughter of Anthemius, the regent during the minority of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, his second-born daughter being insane. She refused to marry, being in her heart betrothed to Christ. Going off into the Egyptian desert, wearing man's dress and using the man's name Dorotheus, she entered a men's monastery where she lived in asceticism, lifting up her soul constantly to God and burning with love towards His whole creation.

It was suggested to Anthemius the Regent that he send his remaining, insane, daughter to the hermit, that prayers might be read over her. And so, by the providence of God, it came to pass that Apollinaria healed her insane sister by the power of prayer.

As soon as she died, the secret became known - that she had been a woman, not a man. The manly courage of this holy virgin has remained as an example and stimulus throughout the ages to all who take thought for their salvation. She entered into rest in the year 470.

From The Prologue From Ochrid by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
©1985 Lazarica Press, Birmingham UK