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Virgin Martyr Helen of Sinope: Faith and Courage Under Persecution · Saints and Scripture

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  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Saints and Scripture Podcast.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today is Sunday, november first, twenty twenty six.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today we remember Virgin Martyr Helen of Sinope, who lived in the eighteenth century in Pontus, Asia Minor.
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  SPEAKER_00: Helen was raised in a devout Christian family known as the Bikiaris family.
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  SPEAKER_00: Her parents taught her to fear God, and her uncle, a teacher at a secret Greek school, helped shape her faith and knowledge.
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  SPEAKER_00: At that time, under Turkish rule, Greek schools teaching the Orthodox faith and language had to operate in secret.
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  SPEAKER_00: The authorities discouraged these schools and sometimes harassed students and teachers.
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  SPEAKER_00: Helen was just fifteen years old and known for her obedience and love for Christ.
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  SPEAKER_00: One day, while on an errand, she passed by the home of the governor of Sinope, Ukuzuglu Pasha.
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  SPEAKER_00: He saw her and was inflamed by her beauty.
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  SPEAKER_00: He ordered that she be brought to him.
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  SPEAKER_00: When he learned who she was, he tried to harm her, but an invisible power stopped him.
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  SPEAKER_00: Helen prayed silently to God, who protected her.
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  SPEAKER_00: The governor locked her in his house, but she escaped and returned home.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Pasha threatened the Christian community, saying he would kill many unless Helen was handed over.
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  SPEAKER_00: The community elders met and convinced Helen's father to bring her to the governor to save others.
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  SPEAKER_00: Though heartbroken, he agreed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Helen was brought back to the Pasha, who again tried to harm her but was stopped by the same invisible power.
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  SPEAKER_00: During this time Helen prayed quietly, reciting the six psalms she had learned from her uncle.
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  SPEAKER_00: The next day the Pasha's attempts continued to fail.
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  SPEAKER_00: In anger he imprisoned Helen in a damp prison.
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  SPEAKER_00: Even there when he tried to harm her, Christ protected her.
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  SPEAKER_00: Finally, the governor ordered her tortured and killed.
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  SPEAKER_00: Her body was sewn into a sack and thrown into the sea, but the sack did not sink.
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  SPEAKER_00: Instead it floated, shining with a heavenly light.
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  SPEAKER_00: The Turks were frightened and cried out, She's burning, she's burning.
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  SPEAKER_00: The sack drifted to a place called Gae, where the sea is very deep and dark.
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  SPEAKER_00: There it sank.
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  SPEAKER_00: Days later a Greek ship anchored nearby.
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  SPEAKER_00: The watchmen saw a light from the sea bottom and thought it was treasure.
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  SPEAKER_00: Divers went down and found not gold but the holy relics of Saint Helen.
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  SPEAKER_00: When the sack was opened, they found two nails in her head and her body was beheaded.
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  SPEAKER_00: Her relics were taken to Russia, and her head was secretly brought back to the church of the Theoticos in Sinope.
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  SPEAKER_00: Her skull has been known to work many miracles, especially for those suffering from headaches.
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  SPEAKER_00: At the place where her body sank, fresh water sprang forth, called Agiasmata, meaning holy water.
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  SPEAKER_00: In 1924, during population exchanges between Greece and Turkey, her skull was taken to Thessaloniki.
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  SPEAKER_00: Today it is kept in the church of the Holy Great Martyr Marina in Anotumba, where it continues to emit a fragrant scent and work miracles.
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  SPEAKER_00: Saint Helen is remembered together with Saints Cosmos and Damien of Asia on November 1st.
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  SPEAKER_00: A special church service was composed in her honor by the monk Gerosimus of Mount Othos.
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  SPEAKER_00: Her story reminds us of the power of prayer and faith in God's protection, even in the face of great suffering.
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  SPEAKER_00: Let us pray.
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  SPEAKER_00: Lord, grant us the courage of Saint Helen to remain faithful in trials.
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  SPEAKER_00: Protect us with your invisible power and guide us in your love.
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  SPEAKER_00: In the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, one God.
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  SPEAKER_00: Amen.