Euphrosyne of Polotsk (; 1104–1167) was the granddaughter of Vseslav, the prince of

Polotsk Polotsk () or Polatsk () is a town in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the Dvina River and serves as the administrative center of Polotsk District. Polotsk is served by Polotsk Airport and Borovitsy air base. As of 2025, it has a pop ...

, and daughter of the prince Svyatoslav-Georgy Vseslavich. She has long been a popular saint among Orthodox devotees, particularly those in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia with a traditional feast day of May 23. In addition, since 1984, she has been one of the 15 patron

saints In Christian 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 Anglican, Oriental Orth ...

of Belarus, whose lives are celebrated in the

Belarusian Orthodox Church The Belarusian Orthodox Church (BOC; , ) is the official name of the exarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church in Belarus. It represents the union of Eparchies and Metropolitanates of the Russian Orthodox Church, Russian Orthodox eparchies in the ...

, on the first Sunday after

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christianity, Christian holiday which takes place on the 49th day (50th day when inclusive counting is used) after Easter Day, Easter. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spiri ...

Life

Predslava was born between 1101 and 1104, into the

Rurik Rurik (also spelled Rorik, Riurik or Ryurik; ; ; died 879) was a Varangians, Varangian chieftain of the Rus' people, Rus' who, according to tradition, was invited to reign in Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod in the year 862. The ''Primary Chronicle' ...

noble family, members of which were the dukes of the

principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) is a type of monarchy, monarchical state or feudalism, feudal territory ruled by a prince or princess. It can be either a sovereign state or a constituent part of a larger political entity. The term "prin ...

, in what is modern day

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. Her father was Prince Svyatoslav-Georgy Vseslavich, second son of Vseslav the Sorcerer. She refused all proposals of marriage and, without her parents' knowledge, ran away to the convent where her aunt was the

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

. She became a nun and took the name Euphrosyne. With the blessing of the Bishop of Polotsk, she began to live near the Sophia cathedral, where she spent her time copying books."Euphrosyne Abbes of Polotsk" Church of the Mother of God, Mays Landing, New Jersey
/ref> The money she thus earned she distributed amongst the poor. Around 1128 Bishop Elias of Polotsk entrusted Euphrosyne the task of setting up a convent. At the newly constructed Savior-Transfiguration convent at Seltse she taught young women to copy books, sing, sew and do other handicrafts. Through her efforts, in 1161, a cathedral was built which survives to the present day. She also founded a monastery dedicated to the Mother of God, as well as two churches. The church of The Holy Saviour still stands today and is considered to be the most precious monument of early

ian architecture. Towards the end of her life, she undertook a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

and the

Holy Land The term "Holy Land" is used to collectively denote areas of the Southern Levant that hold great significance in the Abrahamic religions, primarily because of their association with people and events featured in the Bible. It is traditionall ...

. Patriarch Michael II of Constantinople gave her an icon of the

Theotokos ''Theotokos'' ( Greek: ) is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus, used especially in Eastern Christianity. The usual Latin translations are or (approximately "parent (fem.) of God"). Familiar English translations are "Mother of God" or "God-beare ...

, which is now called the ''Virgin of Korsun''. The Crusader king,

Amalric I of Jerusalem Amalric (; 113611 July 1174), formerly known in historiography as , was the king of Jerusalem from 1163 until his death. He was, in the opinion of his Muslim adversaries, the bravest and cleverest of the crusader kings. Amalric was the younger ...

, also received her in the Holy Land where she died circa 1173. Her body, after the conquest of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Saladin Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub ( – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin, was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, h ...

in 1187, was carried by the monks to

Kiev Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

and deposited there in the Monastery of the Caves. It was only in 1910 that the relics of Euphrosyne were brought back to her native town of

Veneration

Her

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context does n ...

is celebrated on May 23. Euphrosyne is the only virgin

saint In Christianity, Christian belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of sanctification in Christianity, holiness, imitation of God, likeness, or closeness to God in Christianity, God. However, the use of the ...

of East Slav origin. Euphrosyne (or Efrosinia) of Polotsk is a patron saint of Belarus. In Belarus there is a Convent of Saint Euphrosyne in Polotsk and a Saint Euphrosyne Orthodox Church in Minsk. In addition, there are churches dedicated to Euphrosyne of Polotsk in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Vilnius Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

orthodox-world.org
/ref> and

South River, New Jersey South River is a borough in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the borough's population was 16,118, an increase of 110 (+0.7%) from the 2010 census count of 16,008, which in turn reflecte ...

(see: St. Euphrosynia Belarusian Orthodox Church).

Cross of Saint Euphrosyne

The

Cross of Saint Euphrosyne The Cross of Saint Euphrosyne or Cross of Euphrosyne of Polotsk () was a revered relic of the Orthodox Church in Belarus, which was made in 1161 by Lazar Bohsha on the order of Euphrosyne of Polotsk and is regarded as a national treasure of Bel ...

was a gem-studded cross created at her behest by a local master, Lazar Bohsha (). The famous six-armed golden cross was decorated with enamels and precious stones and presented by her to the Church of the Holy Saviour in 1161. The relic survived centuries of turbulence until

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, when it disappeared during the evacuation of the museum in 1941. The cross was last seen in

Mogilev Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, about from the Belarus–Russia border, border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, ...

. Despite efforts of the Belarusian government to trace its whereabouts in the early 1990s, which included searching in private collections in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, it has not been found.

References

1104 births 1167 deaths People from Polotsk 12th-century Christian saints Nuns from Kievan Rus' Christian abbesses Princesses from Kievan Rus' 12th-century people from Kievan Rus' Christian female saints of the Middle Ages 12th-century women from Kievan Rus' 12th-century Christian nuns Belarusian nuns Iziaslavichi family (Polotsk)

Sources

* {{cite journal , last1=

Nadson Nadson can refer to: * Alexander Nadson (1926–2015), Apostolic Visitor for the Belarusian Greek Catholic Church * Georgii Nadson (1867–1939), Soviet biologist *Semyon Nadson Semyon Yakovlevich Nadson (; 14 December 1862 – 19 January 1887) ...

, first1=Alexander , title=The Life of Saint Euphrosyne of Połack , journal= The Journal of Byelorussian Studies , date=1969 , volume=II , issue=1 , pages=3-24 , url=https://brill.com/view/journals/bela/2/1/article-p3_1.xml , access-date=30 May 2024

Life

Veneration

Cross of Saint Euphrosyne

See also

References

Sources