Venerable
Venerable Olympias (Olympiada) of Constantinople
ок. 361 — 408/409
Also known as: Олимпиада, диаконисса
Venerable Olympias of Constantinople, deaconess — a noble and wealthy widow, close spiritual daughter and correspondent of St. John Chrysostom, who supported him during his exile and suffered persecution for it.
IMPORTANT NAME CORRECTION: the card's previous spelling — "Olympia" — did not match any source; every source checked (Wikipedia, azbyka.ru, drevo-info.ru, ortox.ru, pravoslavie.ru) consistently uses the form "Olympias/Olympiada." The name has been corrected accordingly.
Venerable Olympias was born to Senator Anysius Secundus, granddaughter of the eparch Eulalius, of great nobility and wealth. Widowed young (her betrothed/husband died shortly after marriage), she refused remarriage — including a match proposed by Emperor Theodosius himself — devoting herself and her fortune to charity: building churches, monasteries, and hospitals, and helping the poor. Patriarch Nectarius ordained her a deaconess of the Great Church in Constantinople.
She became a close friend, spiritual daughter, and constant correspondent of St. John Chrysostom; his surviving 17 letters to her (written during his exile) are an important patristic source, attesting to her exceptional spiritual character. After Chrysostom's deposition and exile, and after the fire that destroyed Hagia Sophia, she was falsely accused of arson by his enemies, heavily fined, and eventually exiled (imprisoned) in Nicomedia, where she died around 409.
Her feast is kept on July 25/August 7.