Paphnutius of Alexandria

Saint Paphnutius of Alexandria was a devout Christian, the father of Saint Euphrosyne, and he ended his life as a monk in his daughter's cell. He is commemorated on 28 February.

His wife died early, and Paphnutius raised his only daughter alone. When Euphrosyne turned eighteen he wished to give her in marriage and went to the monastery, to his spiritual father, to ask a blessing for the wedding. The abbot spoke with the girl and blessed her, but she longed for the monastic life. She received tonsure in secret from a wandering monk, left her father's house, and, fearing that her father would find her in a convent of nuns, she called herself the eunuch Smaragdus and entered the very men's monastery she had visited since childhood. The monks did not recognize her and received her. She spent thirty-⁠eight years in her cell in labour, fasting and prayer.

Paphnutius mourned his lost daughter and, on the abbot's advice, often spoke with the monk Smaragdus, telling him his sorrow and finding spiritual comfort in him. Before her death Euphrosyne revealed her secret to her father and asked that no one but he prepare her body for burial. After burying his daughter, Paphnutius, who was of noble birth and wealthy, gave his property to the poor and to the monastery and became a monk. For ten years, until his death, he struggled in his daughter's cell.

His memory is kept on 28 February, in the new style.