Martyr Charissa (Chariessa) of Corinth

Martyr Charissa, together with the martyrs Nika, Galina, Calisa (Callida), Nunekhia, Basilissa, and other women, belonged to a church choir led by the martyr Leonidas, a native of the Peloponnese. During the persecution of Emperor Decius (c. 251), the choir continued to openly sing church hymns and thanksgiving prayers despite the danger. A few days before the feast of Pascha, the singers were arrested in the city of Troezen in Argolis and brought to trial in Corinth before the governor Venustus. Refusing to renounce Christ, Martyr Charissa, together with her companions and the martyr Leonidas, endured cruel tortures and was executed. Her memory is kept on March 23, and also on April 16/29 together with Martyr Leonidas of Corinth and his companions.