Venerable Martyr Philothei of Athens

CATEGORY CORRECTION: the previous category "venerable" is refined to "venerable martyr" — the saint took monastic vows as a nun but died from injuries inflicted for her work rescuing Christian women, i.e. she suffered a martyr's death; several sources (azbyka.ru, drevo-info.ru) unanimously call her precisely a "venerable martyr."

Venerable Martyr Philothei of Athens, in the world Revoula (Paraskevi) Benizelou, was born in Athens in 1522 into a noble, devout family. Married against her will to a cruel man who beat her, she was widowed after three years and, on her parents' death, inherited a large fortune, which she resolved to devote to God, taking monastic vows as Philothei.

With her own wealth she founded a convent dedicated to the Apostle Andrew in the Plaka district of Athens, together with a hospital, almshouse, workshops, and a school for girls — a remarkable undertaking under Ottoman rule. Her convent, home to over a hundred nuns, became a refuge for Greek women fleeing forced conversion to Islam; Philothei spent her fortune ransoming captives and smuggling them to safety on the islands of Aegina, Andros, and Salamis.

This activity drew Ottoman hostility. On the night of the feast of the Apostle Dionysius the Areopagite, October 3, 1588, Ottoman mercenaries broke into her monastery, beat her severely, and left her for dead; her sisters carried her to Kalogreza, where she died of her wounds on February 19, 1589. Her relics were found incorrupt and translated to Athens's cathedral. She is venerated as patroness of Athens.