Potamiani of Alexandria

Saint Potamiani of Alexandria lived at the end of the third century in Alexandria, during the reign of Emperor Maximian (286 to 305). She was a slave, but also a Christian, that is, her soul was free through Jesus Christ. She was purchased from her former master by another man, also a pagan. Since Potamiani was very beautiful, he believed it was his right to enjoy her body, but her stubborn resistance surprised and angered him; for the first time he had been refused by a female slave. So he asked her to speak. She concealed nothing from him: "I am a Christian, and I value my honor far more than my life. My only possession is my faith and my purity. I will not deny either. Kill me, and I will not complain, but do not touch me, or I shall kill myself. For our holy faith prohibits suicide, except when death remains the only way of protecting our honor from brutal violence."

Then the pagan master handed her over to the prefect, who ordered her placed in a cauldron of boiling tar. Potamiani heard her sentence with spiritual joy, for in this way she would preserve her most precious possessions, her virginity and her Christian faith. Those who watched her horrible torments were astonished by her endurance and composure. Thus she surrendered her pure soul to God. She is commemorated on 7 June (new style; 20 June on the old calendar).