Evanthia of Scepsis

Holy Martyr Evanthia of Scepsis was the wife of the Holy Martyr Demetrius, governor of the city of Scepsis in the Hellespont, and mother of Demetrian. She suffered with them for faith in Christ.

Demetrius was a prince and governor of the city. To his city came Saint Cornelius the Centurion, the first pagan turned to Christ by the Holy Apostle Peter, to preach the Gospel. Cornelius sowed Christianity among many inhabitants of Scepsis, and for this the pagans seized him and brought him to the judgment of the governor Demetrius, who vainly tried to force him to renounce Christ and at last subjected him to tortures.

Cornelius bravely endured the torments, urging the governor to abandon pagan errors and turn to the true faith in Christ. Led into the idol temple, he shattered by prayer the shrine and the idols in it. Convinced of the truth of Christianity by the saint's preaching and wonders, the governor Demetrius himself believed in Christ and received Holy Baptism with all his family. For confessing Christ, the pagans threw the whole newly converted family into prison, where they let them die of hunger.

The Synaxarion commemorates Demetrius, Evanthia and Demetrian on 24 September (new style).