This article was written on the occasion
of the feast of the holy
Virgin Martyr Markella of Chios (the
'Chiopolitis' - a
native of Chios, Greece), whose memory is
commemorated on July 22nd.
Orthodox
Outlet for Dogmatic
Enquiries
Source: euxh.gr (Translation: K.N.)
Saint Markella
was murdered with unprecedented ferocity by her own father, who
was obsessed with sexual lust for her! The girl resisted his
wishes to the death – literally - but he finally chased her to
the shore and slaughtered her when she became trapped among the
rocks! The people of Chios confirm that every year, on the day
of her memory, the waters at the site of her slaughter turn red
by themselves, as if they too want to honour the pure, virgin
blood that was so unjustly and tragically spilled there.
The saint is characterized as
'Virgin-Martyr', because 'virgin' in the ancient Greek language
(parthenos) does not only mean a person who is sexually
untouched and pure; it is also used when referring to a girl (a
young woman, mainly a teenager - unmarried of course). A
Christian girl who has not been married is taken for granted to
be physically (sexually) unmolested, which is why the Greek terms for 'daughter'
and 'virgin' have become synonymous. This is why young and
unmarried women who had
martyred for their faith in Christ and His
teaching are called 'Virgin
Martyrs'.
Examples of Virgin Martyrs are Saint Marina, Saint
Kyriake, Saint Paraskeve, Saint Christina, Saint Barbara, Saint
Ekaterina, e.a.. The first four mentioned here are
commemorated
in July.
The feast-day of St. Markella
marks the commemoration of her exceptionally brutal martyrdom
(by an abhorrent example of a father
who
had lost his senses
with carnal lust for his daughter to such a degree that he
finally hunted her down and slaughtered her
far more viciously than the slaughtering
of a lamb);
a martyrdom that conveys
through the centuries a profoundly shocking message
regarding child abuse. The element
underlying her story that has left a deep impression in people
more than any other is precisely the shocking manner of her
death and the natural perpetrator of her murder.
Location marking where
the
martyr was slaughtered and the water turns blood-red annually on her feast-day.
Shrine on the
coast - facing the
martyr's place of
martyrdom
The Monastery of Saint Markella on Chios
Island, Greece
The same is true for the feast day of the
Holy Great
Martyr Barbara (December 4th), where the
predominant element of her life that
has
impressed people is the fact that her own father
betrayed her to the Romans as a Christian, allowing her to be subjected to gruesome torture and finally,
upon his personal insistence,
to be
decapitated
by his own hand
(only to be struck and killed
by a bolt of lightning a few days later). This detail is the reason
Saint Barbara has been established
in Greece as the
patron saint of the
Military Division of Heavy Artillery.
Saint Barbara
being
decapitated by her father
Two other (but less well-known) saints who were murdered by their
father are the Great Martyr Christina, horrifically
tortured for being a Christian (commemorated July 24th)
Saint Christina
and Saint Philothea of Arges, Romania, (commemorated
December 7th). Orphaned on the mother’s side and with
an abusive stepmother, the saint was mortally wounded by her
father (possibly
not intending to kill her) because she
was giving away to the poor most of the food her stepmother
would give her to take to her father working in the fields. She
was only 12 years old!
Saint Philothea of Arges, Romania
We might also mention two married Christian
women who were victims of domestic violence
and are also honoured by the Church as martyrs: they are the
Saints
both
named Thomais: Saint Thomais of Lesvos Islqnd, Greece
(commemorated January 3rd) who was beaten to death by
her husband, and Saint Thomais of Alexandria,
Egypt (commemorated April 14th), who was murdered
by her father-in-law for resisting his sexual desires!
Saint Thomais of Lesvos
Island (Greece) & Saint Thomais of Alexandria Egypt
The conclusion
one reaches
from all the above
instances is that domestic violence and child abuse
was brought
to light by Christians and openly denounced
through the Christian Synaxarions (Books of Saints’ biographies)
mentioning
women
victims of
such violence who are
commemorated
annually by the
Church as saints and martyrs.
It must be
emphasized that a person
is deified
(recognized by
the Church as a saint),
through
evidence of their
unyielding faith and
love for Christ. They
have also
been
recognized as
saints for steadfastly defending
their moral Christian principles to their
dying breath - and not
merely because they happened to have fallen
victims to a certain kind of criminal behaviour. The same
applies to all the martyrs who had preferred torture and death
rather than betray their faith and their moral principles. Most
of them would have attained sainthood anyway,
for
having lived
holy lives;
although
a holy life
was
also
understood as
an occasion
for them to be tested unto death,
even
sacrificing their very lives
and - according to Orthodox Christianity –
anticipating they have
earned
Eternity.
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