Argyra

Holy Martyr Argyra of Prousa in Bithynia was a new martyr, imprisoned for her faith in Christ and dead in prison, according to the OCA on 5 April 1721 (Doxologia gives the year 1725). She is commemorated on 30 April.

She came from a pious family and was a beautiful and virtuous woman. At eighteen she married a pious Christian, and they moved to a neighbourhood inhabited by many Muslims. After only a few days a Turkish neighbour, the son of the cadi, boldly declared his love for her and tried to bring her to his religion. She rejected his advances, saying that she would rather die than marry a Muslim. She did not tell her husband, fearing that he would go after the Turk and be punished.

The Muslim brought her to trial and testified that she had consented, but then laughed and said she was joking. His lies were confirmed by false witnesses, and Argyra was sent to prison. Her husband, hoping for a fair trial, appealed to Constantinople; there the accuser repeated his lies before the judge. Saint Argyra said that she was a Christian and would never deny Christ. The judge ordered her flogged and sentenced her to life in prison.

Often she was taken from her cell, interrogated, beaten and returned to prison. Seventeen years passed this way. She was also insulted and tormented by the Muslim women imprisoned for their misdeeds, but she endured with great courage. According to the testimony of many Christian women imprisoned with her, she humbled her body through fasting, and her heart was so full of love for Christ that she regarded hardships as comforts. A pious Christian, Manolis Kiourtzibasis, sent her word that he would try to have her released, but she would not consent. She completed her earthly pilgrimage in prison, receiving the crown of martyrdom.

After a few years her body was exhumed and found whole, incorrupt and giving off an ineffable fragrance. Pious priests and laymen took it to the church of Saint Paraskeve on 30 April 1735, with the permission of Patriarch Paisius II.