Basilissa of Corinth

Holy Martyr Basilissa of Corinth was one of the maidens who sang in the choir led by Saint Leonidas and who were drowned in the sea in the persecution of Decius, about the year 250.

Leonidas, born in the Peloponnese, was the leader of a women's choir at a church. While the Christians of the region hid from searches, the women under his guidance went on singing hymns and thanksgiving prayers openly, the only ones who confessed the faith in public. A few days before Pascha they were arrested at Troezen in Argolis and brought to Corinth before the governor Venustus.

The governor promised Leonidas glory and wealth if he would sacrifice to the gods, but the saint answered calmly that he had long ago left falsehood behind. He was tortured and his skin was flayed. The maidens, brought in turn, were first deceived with the claim that their teacher had sacrificed; they did not believe it and said that they would offer a sacrifice to the Lord Jesus Christ. They were imprisoned and then tortured like Leonidas, and not one gave way. The holy maidens were Charissa, Victoria, Galina, Calisa, Nunechia, Basilissa, Theodora and Irene.

The judge ordered them thrown into the sea. On the shore Charissa began to sing the song of Miriam, sister of Moses, and the others took it up. On Holy Saturday they were put on a ship, and some miles from shore stones were tied to their necks and their hands bound behind their backs. Leonidas was cast in first, saying that he received a second baptism. After him the maidens were given to the waves. Later pious Christians found their bodies on the shore and built a great church over their tomb.

The calendar on the page gives the commemoration on 23 March and on 29 April, in the new style.