Commemoration of St. Kalliopi (June 8)

Today, our Church honors the memory of Martyr Kalliopi.

Agia Kalliopi lived during the middle of the 3rd century AD, i.e. the reign of Emperor Decius. She was distinguished for her natural beauty and rich spiritual and intellectual talents. She rejected every marriage proposal because she had fully devoted her life to Jesus Christ, the teaching of the Divine Word and the ministry and devotion to her sick and suffering brothers.

Because of the cruel persecution unleashed by the persecutor of the Christians, Decius, Kalliopi was arrested and led to the local lord, who admired her beauty and tried with various faults and promises to entice her and draw her to idolatry.

However, St. Kalliopi, with heroic constancy, obsession and rationality, confessed her faith in Christ, the only Savior and Redeemer. Outraged, the tyrant commanded to whip her mercilessly. Then, she suffered many tortures and eventually she was beheaded, earning heavenly and indestructible glory.

The History of the Church is full of many courageous women, such as Saint Kalliopi, who have been and continue to be paradigms of excellence, even with the cost of their own life, because they have faith to the power of Godman Jesus Christ.