Martyr
Martyr Mary of Persia
† ок. 346
Martyr Mary of Persia — one of three consecrated virgins (with Thecla and Martha) in Persia, beheaded under coercion by their own spiritual father, who had fallen into apostasy, during the persecution of Shah Shapur II.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the stub contained five contaminated dates ("July 22/Aug 4/Apr 1/Jun 4/Jun 17"), matching the dates of Martyr Mary Magdalene and other saints in this batch — unrelated to this Persian martyr; replaced with the genuine date.
Saint Martyr Mary, together with the virgins Thecla and Martha, lived an ascetic life in the Persian village of Kashkar, entrusting her property to the spiritual direction of the presbyter Paul. During the persecution of Christians by the Persian Shah Shapur II, they were seized by order of the chief magus and scourged (a hundred lashes).
Seeking to seize the virgins' property, the magus, through greed, induced the presbyter Paul himself to apostatize, forcing him to personally behead his own spiritual daughters. Paul carried this out; that same evening the magus had Paul himself strangled in prison, confiscating the property regardless.
Her feast is kept on June 9/22.