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Hermione of Ephesus ( el, Ερμιόνη της Εφέσου; ) is a 2nd-century
saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ort ...
and
martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external ...
venerated by the
Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or "canonica ...
and Roman Catholic Churches. She was well known as a "great healer" and founded the first Christian hospital in Ephesus. Hermione was born in Cæsarea and was one of the four daughters of Saint Philip the Evangelist, one of the
seven deacons The Seven, often known as the Seven Deacons, were leaders elected by the early Christian church to minister to the community of believers in Jerusalem, to enable the Apostles to concentrate on 'prayer and the Ministry of the Word' and to address ...
as described in chapter 6 in the
Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...
, chosen by the early
Christian church In ecclesiology, the Christian Church is what different Christian denominations conceive of as being the true body of Christians or the original institution established by Jesus. "Christian Church" has also been used in academia as a synonym for ...
to minister to the community of believers in
Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...
. Her name does not appear in the Bible, but she and her sisters are described as virgins and "gifted with prophecy." Hermione also appears in the
Menaion The Menaion ( el, Μηναῖον; Slavonic: Минїѧ, ''Miniya'', "of the month") is the liturgical book used by the Eastern Orthodox Churchand those Eastern Catholic Churches which follow the Byzantine Rite containing the propers for fixed ...
, the
liturgical book A liturgical book, or service book, is a book published by the authority of a church body that contains the text and directions for the liturgy of its official religious services. Christianity Roman Rite In the Roman Rite of the Catholic ...
used by the
Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...
. She is often confused with a daughter of St. Philip the Apostle. According to tradition, around the early 100s, after studying medicine, Hermione travelled with her sister Eukhilda to
Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in ...
, through
Anatolia Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, to meet St. John the Theologian in the hopes that they could help him in his evangelization efforts. They found that he had already died, but met Petronius, a disciple of
Saint Paul Paul; grc, Παῦλος, translit=Paulos; cop, ⲡⲁⲩⲗⲟⲥ; hbo, פאולוס השליח (previously called Saul of Tarsus;; ar, بولس الطرسوسي; grc, Σαῦλος Ταρσεύς, Saũlos Tarseús; tr, Tarsuslu Pavlus; ...
, and followed him instead. Hermione became well known for her healing and built a hospital in Ephesus. Soon, her reputation as a doctor and as a devout Christian attracted the attention of the Roman emperor
Trajan Trajan ( ; la, Caesar Nerva Traianus; 18 September 539/11 August 117) was Roman emperor from 98 to 117. Officially declared ''optimus princeps'' ("best ruler") by the senate, Trajan is remembered as a successful soldier-emperor who presi ...
who stopped in Ephesus on his way to a war with the Persians in 114 to convince her to renounce Christ. When she refused, he ordered that she be struck in the face for several hours, which she was able to withstand because she was "comforted by a vision of the Lord, in the form of Petronius, sitting upon the throne of judgment." Trajan freed her when he saw that she would not recant her faith and that she bore the torture with "patience and courage," and after she prophesied that he would defeat the Persians and that his son-in-law
Hadrian Hadrian (; la, Caesar Trâiānus Hadriānus ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. He was born in Italica (close to modern Santiponce in Spain), a Roman ''municipium'' founded by Italic settlers in Hispania ...
would succeed him. Hadrian also tried to force Hermione to renounce Christ, by having her scourged and her feet pierced with wire but "she endured these trials without complaint." Hadrian also ordered that Hermione be thrown into a cauldron full of burning tar; she made the
Sign of the Cross Making the sign of the cross ( la, signum crucis), or blessing oneself or crossing oneself, is a ritual blessing made by members of some branches of Christianity. This blessing is made by the tracing of an upright cross or + across the body with ...
before entering and was unharmed. The fire was extinguished after she entered the cauldron and she "seemed to be standing in dew." Hadrian touched the cauldron himself, but his nails fell off and he was badly burned, so he ordered his troops to "torture her without mercy;" they beat her and cut her feet with nails. They tried to fry her to death in an enormous pan, but a moment after she was tossed naked onto the pan, the fire under the pan exploded, burning several onlookers. After these miracles, Hermione pretended to want to sacrifice to idols and was taken to a pagan temple. Khoury reported that she prayed and "caused the jeweled idols in Hadrian’s pagan temple to go crashing down into ruins," so he had her beheaded. Before she died, her two executioners, named Theotimus and Theodulos, were briefly paralysed. They knelt at her feet and were converted to Christianity "on the spot." She healed them and promised that they would go to heaven, and they died soon afterwards. According to Khoury, Hermione "owns a special place among the
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East J ...
saintsthe place reserved for valiant women of unbreakable faith in Jesus Christ." Hermione might have been buried at the eastern slopes of Pion Hill in Ephesus, along with an "impressive" list of other saints, including
Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to his crucifixion and resur ...
,
Saint Timothy Timothy or Timothy of Ephesus (Greek: ; ''Timótheos'', meaning "honouring God" or "honoured by God") was an early Christian evangelist and the first Christian bishop of Ephesus, who tradition relates died around the year AD 97. Timothy was fro ...
, her father Saint Philip,
Paul of Thebes Paul of Thebes (; , ''Paûlos ho Thēbaîos''; ; c. 227 – c. 341), commonly known as Paul the First Hermit or Paul the Anchorite, was an Egyptian saint regarded as the first Christian hermit, who was claimed to have lived alone in the deser ...
, Aristobulus,
Adauctus Felix and Adauctus ( 303) were according to tradition, Christian martyrs who were said to have suffered during the Great Persecution during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian. The ''Acts'', first published in Ado's ''Martyrology'', r ...
, and Adauctus’ daughter, Callisthena, although "there is no archeological evidence to support even one sacred burial from the list." The character
Hermione Granger Hermione Jean Granger ( ) is a fictional character in J. K. Rowling's '' Harry Potter'' series. She first appears in the novel '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (1997), as a new student on her way to Hogwarts. After Harry and Ro ...
from the series of
Harry Potter books ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at Ho ...
by J.K. Rowling got her name from "a cadre of literary Hermiones," including
Hermione Hermione may refer to: People * Hermione (given name), a female given name * Hermione (mythology), only daughter of Menelaus and Helen in Greek mythology and original bearer of the name Arts and literature * ''Cadmus et Hermione'', an opera b ...
in Greek mythology,
Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
character Queen Hermione of Sicily in his play ''
The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...
'', and St. Hermione of Ephesus. Hermione's feast day is except in
the Episcopal Church The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop ...
, where she is honored on with Zenaida and Philonella.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hermione, Ephesus 117 deaths 2nd-century Christian martyrs 2nd-century Christian saints 2nd-century Jews Ante-Nicene Christian female saints Early Jewish Christians Saints from the Holy Land Year of birth unknown Anglican saints Holy Unmercenaries