Ia of Persia

Holy Martyr Ia of Persia (called in some sources Eudocia the Roman, and in the Catholic Church Viola) was a Christian martyr of Persia, who suffered in the time of King Shapur II, about the year 362 or 364. The Orthodox Church commemorates her on 11 September (24 September on the new style).

According to her life, Ia was from the city of Vizada. In 362 the shahanshah Shapur II invaded the territory of the Roman Empire with his armies and destroyed the fortress of Beth Zabdai. Shapur took with him to Khuzestan nine thousand captives, among them Ia. She was given to the Zoroastrian priests (mobeds), who tried in vain to make her renounce Christ. Then Ia was put in prison and tormented with hunger. After that she was brought out of prison and beaten with knotted sticks. She was put in prison again for fifteen months. After the imprisonment her body was bound with ropes so tightly that her bones were broken; she was also beaten with straps, and in the end her head was cut off.

The sources do not agree on the year of her passing to the Lord: one says 362, others about 364.