Xenia the Righteous of Rome () was a saint of the 5th century, honored by some Christian Churches, including Orthodox and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. Xenia, originally born Eusebia, was the only daughter of a wealthy

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. She and two devoted servants of hers, left to avoid an arranged marriage. She escaped to

Mylasa Milas is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Muğla Province, Turkey. Its area is 2,067 km2, and its population is 147,416 (2022). The city commands a region with an active economy and is very rich in history and ancient rema ...

, on the island of

Kos Kos or Cos (; ) is a Greek island, which is part of the Dodecanese island chain in the southeastern Aegean Sea. Kos is the third largest island of the Dodecanese, after Rhodes and Karpathos; it has a population of 37,089 (2021 census), making ...

, where she accepted name "Xenia" (stranger). She wanted to hide in a deserted place not to be discovered by her parents. Upon arrival, Xenia began a church dedicated to the

Saint Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

and a woman's monastery. Soon after, she was made a deaconess by Bishop Paul of Mylasa.Poulos, George
St. Xenia
''Orthodox Saints''. qtd. in
Orthodox Women Saints
'. The Self-Ruled Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. Accessed on 2007-12-10. It is written of her that she "helped everyone: for the destitute, she was a benefactress; for the grief-stricken, a comforter; for sinners, a guide to repentance. She possessed a deep humility, accounting herself the worst and most sinful of all." The Feast of St. Xenia is celebrated in the Orthodox church and Catholic church on January 24, the day on which she died. It was alleged that "during her funeral, a luminous wreath of stars surrounding a radiant cross appeared over the monastery in the heavens." She is said to have foreseen her own death.

Notes

References

*St. Nikolai Velimirović, Tepsić, Fr. T. Timothy (Translator). ''The Prologue of Ohrid: Lives of Saints, Hymns, Reflections and Homilies for Every Day of the Year, Vol. 1''. Serbian Orthodox Diocese of Western America, 2002.

External links

Year of birth missing 5th-century deaths People from Rome People from Kos Ancient Christian female saints 5th-century Christian saints 5th-century Italo-Roman people 5th-century Roman women 5th-century Italian women {{Italy-saint-stub