The Holy Martyr Golindukha

Life

A Persian woman; she entered into marriage with a certain Persian sorcerer and lived in marriage for three years. Then she had a vision of an angel, who showed her the other world: the torments of sinners and unbelievers and the joy of the righteous. After this she left her husband and was baptized. At her baptism she received the name Maria. Persecuted by her husband, she was condemned to prison for life. She spent eighteen years in prison without wavering in her faith. Afterward she was thrown into a pit, but was saved by God, and she was placed before a fearsome serpent, but the serpent did not harm her. When certain wicked young men were sent to defile her, God made her invisible to their eyes. Marveling at her sufferings, many Persians accepted the faith of Christ. She visited Jerusalem, where she refuted the heresy of Severus, which taught that the divine nature in Christ suffered, for which reason they chanted: "Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal, who wast crucified for us, have mercy on us!" At last, while preaching the true faith, she peacefully reposed near the city of Nisibis in the year 587.