279:
identity. He received "helpful advice and comforting exhortation" from her anyway and returned to meet with her several times, becoming, as Clark put it, "the spiritual father to her own biological father", Eventually, in the last year before her death, she revealed to
Paphnutius her secret; they reconciled, and she requested that he tell no one and that he prepare her body for burial. After she died, Paphnutius distributed all his wealth to the poor and to the monastery, and became a monk himself, living in his daughter's cell for ten years, until he died and was buried beside Euphrosyne. Clark stated that Paphnutius' actions was another instance of the theme of gender reversal in Euphrosyne's story, and a reworking and complication of the issues of physical and spiritual fatherhood revealed in the "reversal of the father-daughter relationship".
265:
161:. When she was 18, her father wanted her to marry, so she escaped, disguised as a man, and entered a monastery. She spent most of her years as a monk in seclusion from the other monks. During the final year of her life, Euphrosyne became her father's spiritual director, comforting his grief over losing his only daughter. Eventually, she revealed her identity to him and they reconciled. After she died, he entered her monastery and became an ascetic himself, living in her cell until he died ten years later. Ecclesiastical historian
35:
737:
749:
713:
256:, a 3rd-century saint who also disguised herself as a man, because they share a "similar dynamic". Clark also says that Eugenia and Euphrosyne's stories, which both include the aid of servants and the use of disguise to escape into a life of religious seclusion, "are typical of tales of lovers thwarting unwanted marriages. However, here the lover is Christ, and the aim is not conjugal bliss but the celibate life".
232:, who gave her the same advice. At her request, the monk shaved her head and invested her as a monk. When her father left home for another spiritual retreat, Euphrosyne took advantage of his absence and decided to join a monastery, the same one her father visited, instead of a convent, because she was afraid that her father would find her. She disguised herself as a man, claiming to be a
725:
239:
Euphrosyne, as
Smaragdus, impressed the abbot with "the rapid strides which she made toward a perfect ascetic life", but as writer Laura Swan put it, "Dissension arose in the community over Euphrosyne's beauty, and the same abbot ordered her into seclusion". Smaragdus moved deeper into the desert to
219:
life. As writer David Clark put it, she was "unwilling to allow her gender to be a barrier to adopting this lifestyle for herself". A year later, the abbot sent a monk to
Paphnutius' home to invite him to the anniversary celebration of the abbot's ordination; she met with the monk, and admitted to
214:
When
Euphrosyne was twelve, her mother died and her father raised her alone. When she was 18, she had many suitors, so her father chose the most noble and wealthiest for her to marry. They visited the monastery together to receive a blessing from the abbot for her marriage, but the visit inspired
278:
Euphrosyne's father
Paphnutius went to the monastery "for solace for his grief" over the loss of his only daughter; the abbot sent Euphrosyne to provide him with spiritual direction and comfort, but Paphnutius did not recognize her because she covered her face with a veil and never revealed her
240:
a solitary cell, reciting his prayers alone, without the rest of the community, and as Swan also said, grew to love "the intense solitude", eventually only seeing his spiritual director and the abbot. Clark, in his chapter about
Euphrosyne in his book
198:
Euphrosyne was born in 410, into a wealthy and illustrious family in
Alexandria, the only daughter of Paphnutius, "a deeply believing and pious Christian". Paphnutius and his wife were having difficulty having children, so he went to a local
224:, despite her fears of disobeying her father. The monk advised her to disguise herself as a man "to escape her impending marriage". She sent a servant to bring another monk to her, a
236:; the abbot did not recognize her, and welcomed her into the monastery. Euphrosyne took the name Smaragdus, and lived there as a monk for 38 years, until her death in about 470.
211:
pray for them; Euphrosyne was born shortly afterwards. She was baptized at the age of seven, educated in the scriptures, and was well known for her wisdom and love of learning.
252:, which also includes themes of disguise and secret identities. Clark discusses "the complex and contradictory gender dynamic" in Euphrosyne's story, compares Euphrosyne with
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form. According to Clark, an account of her life, written in Old
English, also exists.
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135:
92:
85:
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Between
Medieval Men: Male Friendship and Desire in Early Medieval English Literature
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Between
Medieval Men: Male Friendship and Desire in Early Medieval English Literature
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245:
684:
The Forgotten Desert Mothers: Sayings, Lives, and Stories of Early Christian Women
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Euphrosyne's tomb "became a place of prayer with miracles attributed to her". Her
355:
291:
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195:
to which they had dedicated themselves, put on male attire and passed for men".
151:
81:
34:
350:
See Clark pp. 197-203, for his discussion about sexual politics, the themes of
229:
107:
763:
717:
351:
249:
753:
632:"Authorize Lesser Feasts and Fasts 2022, General Convention Virtual Binder"
332:. London, Pub. for the Early English text society, by N. Trübner & co.
294:. According to Swan, an early version of Euphrosyne's life was written in
323:
216:
183:, "Her story belongs to that group of legends which relate how Christian
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A dying Euphrosyne reveals herself to her father, miniature from the
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188:
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531:. Vol. 1. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 294.
358:, and same-sex religious communities in Euphrosyne's story.
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Euphrosyne was purportedly born to a wealthy family in
701:
187:, in order the more successfully to lead the life of
39:
Fresco of Saint Euphrosyne in a Greek Orthodox Church
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203:, which he visited often, and requested that the
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305:In 2022, Euphrosyne was officially added to the
499:. Syosset, New York: Orthodox Church in America
416:. Syosset, New York: Orthodox Church in America
667:. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
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461:. New York: Encyclopedia Press, Inc. p. 11.
403:. New York: Encyclopedia Press, Inc. p. 11.
126:who disguised herself as a male to enter a
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244:, compares her story with the story of
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381:
491:
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286:is celebrated on September 25 by the
207:, who was his spiritual advisor, and
138:is celebrated on September 25 by the
785:Late Ancient Christian female saints
497:"Venerable Euphrosynē of Alexandria"
414:"Venerable Euphrosynē of Alexandria"
307:Episcopal Church liturgical calendar
406:
259:
13:
482:
312:
309:with a feast day on 25 September.
14:
831:
747:
735:
723:
711:
33:
624:
587:
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298:and another one was written in
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165:considers her story a legend.
130:and live, for 38 years, as an
1:
528:A Dictionary of Saintly Women
445:Kirsch, Johann Peter (1913).
387:Kirsch, Johann Peter (1913).
365:
775:5th-century Christian saints
7:
805:5th-century Egyptian people
686:. New York: Paulist Press.
525:Dunbar, Agnes B.C. (1901).
449:. In Charles G. Herberman;
391:. In Charles G. Herberman;
150:, and on January 16 by the
10:
836:
810:5th-century Egyptian women
325:"Of Saint Euphrasia"
220:him her wish to become an
16:5th-century Egyptian saint
146:, on September 27 by the
111:
91:
73:
65:
49:
44:
32:
21:
337:
330:Ælfric's Lives of Saints
215:Euphrosyne to enter the
144:Byzantine Rite Catholics
104:Euphrosyne of Alexandria
97:September 25, January 16
27:Euphrosyne of Alexandria
795:Saints from Roman Egypt
780:Byzantine female saints
168:
78:Eastern Orthodox Church
790:Roman-era Alexandrians
290:and January 16 by the
274:
271:Menologion of Basil II
118:410–470), also called
815:Cross-dressing saints
663:Clark, David (2009).
455:Catholic Encyclopedia
397:Catholic Encyclopedia
292:Roman Catholic Church
288:Greek Orthodox Church
267:
180:Catholic Encyclopedia
152:Roman Catholic Church
140:Greek Orthodox Church
682:Swan, Laura (2001).
175:Johann Peter Kirsch
163:Johann Peter Kirsch
770:5th-century deaths
593:Clark, pp. 197-198
275:
86:Anglican Communion
673:978-0-19-955815-5
320:Ælfric of Eynsham
296:iambic pentameter
101:
100:
74:Venerated in
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800:Byzantine saints
752:
751:
750:
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728:
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715:
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707:
651:
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638:. Archived from
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447:"St. Euphrosyne"
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389:"St. Euphrosyne"
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260:Death and legacy
148:Episcopal Church
114:tr. "good cheer"
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37:
19:
18:
835:
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820:Anglican saints
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313:Further reading
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254:Eugenia of Rome
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82:Catholic Church
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40:
28:
25:
24:
17:
12:
11:
5:
833:
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692:0-8091-4016-0
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642:on 2022-09-13
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621:Clark, p. 195
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605:Clark, p. 201
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550:Clark, p. 196
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640:the original
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501:. Retrieved
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742:Catholicism
658:Works cited
584:Swan, p. 84
479:Swan, p. 83
378:Swan, p. 83
120:Euphrosynē,
764:Categories
679:243546011.
646:2022-07-22
453:. (eds.).
395:. (eds.).
366:References
193:asceticism
159:Alexandria
56:Alexandria
730:Biography
698:45460900.
503:1 January
420:1 January
284:feast day
201:monastery
136:feast day
128:monastery
322:(1881).
217:monastic
189:celibacy
704:Portals
248:in the
222:ascetic
185:virgins
177:in the
132:ascetic
718:Saints
690:
671:
246:Joseph
234:eunuch
226:hermit
134:. Her
122:was a
45:Virgin
754:Egypt
451:et al
393:et al
338:Notes
300:prose
230:Scete
228:from
209:monks
205:abbot
124:saint
108:Greek
93:Feast
60:Egypt
23:Saint
696:OCLC
688:ISBN
677:OCLC
669:ISBN
505:2021
422:2021
354:and
191:and
169:Life
142:and
66:Died
50:Born
69:470
53:410
766::
694:.
675:.
634:.
610:^
598:^
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513:^
484:^
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399:.
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