Martyr
Martyr Domna of Nicomedia
† 302
Also known as: Домна Дева
Martyr Domna of Nicomedia — a former pagan temple-keeper baptized by Hieromartyr Anthimus of Nicomedia, who hid disguised as a mad youth, buried the bodies of executed martyrs, and was beheaded for this in 302.
Martyr Domna of Nicomedia was a pagan who served as keeper of a temple within the imperial palace under Maximian Herculius, enjoying a trusted position at court. Secretly reading the Acts and Epistles of the Apostles, she came to believe in Christ and, together with the eunuch Indes, was baptized by the hieromartyr Anthimus, Bishop of Nicomedia.
After baptism she began giving away her jewels and food from the imperial table to the poor; to avoid exposure and forced return to paganism, she feigned madness and, disguised in men's clothing with her hair cut short, took refuge in a monastery outside the city. She later witnessed fishermen draw from the sea the bodies of the martyrs Indes, Gorgonius, and Peter, buried them, and secretly kept vigil at their graves, offering incense daily while unrecognized in her disguise as a young man.
When the emperor learned of the mysterious "youth" honoring the executed Christians, he ordered the beheading; the martyr Euthymius was executed alongside her. She is numbered among the 20,000 Martyrs of Nicomedia.
Her feast is kept December 28/January 10 and September 3/16.
IMPORTANT NOTE: the duplicate entry martyr_domna has been merged into this one — both entries shared a byte-identical image inscribed "Holy Martyr Domna the Virgin."