Meuris and Thea

The Holy Martyrs Meuris and Thea were two Christian maidens who suffered at Gaza in Palestine, around the year 307. They are commemorated on 19 December. When the persecution raged in the city under the successors of Diocletian, they bore up bravely against the cruelty of men and the malice of the devil. Meuris died at the hands of the persecutors, while Thea lived on for some time after passing through a dreadful variety of torments, as the author of the life of Saint Porphyrius of Gaza, written towards the close of the fourth century, tells. Their relics were placed in a church bearing the name of Saint Timothy.

It is not certain that these saints are other than Valentina and her companion who is not named, commemorated on 25 July. Eusebius of Caesarea relates how a virgin named Valentina, of Diospolis, and her sister were tortured and then bound together and burned alive. The Greek menology names these two Valentina and Thea.