St. Demiana the Martyr’s Glorification | تمجيد الشهيدة دميانة

Her Early Life:
She was born to devout Christian parents in the late third century. Her father, Mark, was the governor of Burullus and Zaafran in Wadi al-Sisban. When she reached her first year, she was baptized at the Monastery of al-Maima south of Zaafran city, and her father held a lavish feast for the poor and needy for three days. After some time, her mother passed away.

A Prince Seeks Her Hand:
A prince approached her father to request her hand in marriage. She was well-known for her piety, love of worship, beauty, wealth, and good manners. When her father asked her opinion, she replied, “Why do you want to marry me when I wish to live with you? Do you want me to leave you?”
Her father was astonished by her response and postponed the marriage discussion. He noticed her love for the Holy Scriptures and how she would retreat to her private room, shedding abundant tears of love before God her Savior. He also observed her deep attachment to the church, her frequent fasting and prayers, and how many of her female friends would spend time with her in a monastic life filled with constant prayers and hymns.

Building a Palace for Her:
At the age of eighteen, she revealed her determination to live a virginal life, and her father welcomed this decision. To fulfill her wish, he built her a palace in Zaafran so she could devote herself to worship, and around her gathered forty virgins who had also dedicated themselves to chastity.
The pure virgin Demiana rejoiced in her father’s love, which surpassed mere emotional affection, as he offered his only daughter as a sacrifice of love to God.
The saint lived a monastic life with her companions, blending fasting with prayer and continuous hymns, turning the palace into a heavenly place resonating with unceasing praises.

Her Father’s Fall:
During the persecution instigated by Diocletian, her father Mark weakened and offered incense to the idols. When Demiana heard this, she left her seclusion to confront her father. She asked her virgin companions to fast and pray for her father’s salvation so he would return from his error.
She met her father and, with courage and firmness, said: “I would rather hear of your death than that you abandon the true God.” She also said: “Know, my father, if you persist in this tyranny, I do not recognize you, and I will be innocent of you here and before the Throne of the Judge, where you will have no part in the eternal inheritance God has prepared for His lovers and covenant keepers.” She wept bitterly over his denial of Christ, regardless of circumstances, and urged him not to fear death but to fear the one who destroys soul and body together, and not to please the emperor at the cost of his faith and eternity.
With her unwavering resolve and complete frankness, her tears of love flowed endlessly as she said: “If you insist on denying the true God, you are not my father, and I am not your daughter!”

Mark’s Return from Falling:
These words and tears inflamed Mark’s heart; he wept bitterly and repented sincerely in humility, saying to her: “Blessed is this hour I saw you, my daughter. You have rescued me from the deep abyss I had fallen into. My life has been renewed in readiness to meet my great Lord, whom I believe will accept me.”
With a spirit of hope, he thanked God for awakening his heart, saying: “I thank You, my God, for removing the darkness of disbelief from my heart. The snare is broken and we are saved…” He left her for the time being and went to Antioch to confront Diocletian, openly declaring his faith and repenting for having offered incense to idols.
The emperor marveled at the transformation of this obedient governor, who had forsaken his faith and burned incense to idols yet now boldly professed his faith. Mark rebuked the emperor for denying faith and urged him to return to true belief. The emperor did not punish him immediately but tried many times to sway him; when Mark did not relent, the tyrant’s wrath rose, and he ordered his beheading. This occurred on the fifth of Abib, on the Feast of the Apostles.
The news spread throughout the province, and the heart of Saint Demiana rejoiced, for her father was saved from eternal perdition to share in Christ’s glory. At the same time, the emperor grieved for Mark, whom he had esteemed.
A few days later, Diocletian learned that his daughter Demiana was the reason for Mark’s return to the Christian faith. He sent soldiers with instruments of torture to take revenge on her and the virgins living with her. The saint saw the soldiers camp around the palace and prepare the instruments, and she gathered the virgins, proclaiming in a spirit of victory that the emperor had prepared everything to terrify them, but the time for the crown had come; those who desired it would await it, and the fearful could flee through the back door. Not one virgin feared death; with great joy, they declared they were steadfast in Christ and would not flee.

Sharing Christ’s Sufferings:
The commander met the saint and told her that the emperor summoned her to bow to the idols, offering her great treasures and the title of a noble princess. She replied: “Do you not shame to call idols gods? There is no God but the Lord of Heaven and Earth. I and those with me are ready to die for His name.”
The commander, enraged, ordered four soldiers to place her in a press to be crushed. The virgins wept as they watched her being pressed. She was thrown into prison, appearing almost dead, when the Archangel Michael came at midnight and healed all her injuries.
In the morning, the soldiers entered the prison to report her death to the commander, and to their amazement, there were no marks of injury on her body. They reported this to the commander, who became furious, exclaiming: “Demiana is a sorceress! Her magic must be broken!” The crowds, seeing her, shouted: “We believe in the God of Demiana,” and the commander ordered them killed.
The commander grew angrier, determined to exact vengeance through increased torture, believing she had misled many.
He ordered her body to be combed with iron combs and massaged with vinegar and lime, but she rejoiced, considering herself unworthy to share in Christ’s sufferings.
She was thrown in prison, and the next day the commander himself went to see her, expecting to find a lifeless corpse, but he was astonished to see her completely unharmed, as Archangel Michael appeared and healed her.
In a violent outbreak, he tortured her in many ways, including breaking her skull, gouging her eyes, and flaying her skin. Yet a white dove descended from heaven, hovering above her, and the saint became fully restored.
Whenever the commander attempted to torture her, the Lord was glorified through her. Finally, he ordered her and the virgins with her to be struck with the sword, and all received the crown of martyrdom. Before the sword fell on Saint Demiana’s neck, she said: “I confess the Lord Christ, and in His name I die, and by Him I live forever.” This occurred on the 13th of Tobe.
The body of Saint Demiana remains in her church, built for her by Queen Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, near Belqas in the northern Delta. Pope Alexandros consecrated it on the twelfth of Bashans.
Attached to the church is the Monastery of Saint Demiana, and many churches have been built in her name throughout Egypt.