Christina (

Syriac Syriac may refer to: *Syriac language, an ancient dialect of Middle Aramaic *Sureth, one of the modern dialects of Syriac spoken in the Nineveh Plains region * Syriac alphabet ** Syriac (Unicode block) ** Syriac Supplement * Neo-Aramaic languages a ...

: ܟܪܣܛܝܢܐ, ''Kresṭīnā''),Jeanne-Nicole Mellon Saint-Laurent et al.
"Christine Yazdouy (text) — ܟܪܣܛܝܢܐ ܝܙܕܘܝ "
in ''Bibliotheca Hagiographica Syriaca Electronica'' (2015). born Yazdoi (fl. 6th century), was a

Sasanian Persia The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th centuries AD. Named ...

n noblewoman and

Christian martyr In Christianity, a martyr is a person considered to have died because of their testimony for Jesus or faith in Jesus. In years of the early church, stories depict this often occurring through death by sawing, stoning, crucifixion, burning at th ...

. Christina was from Karka d'Beth Slokh in the region of

Beth Garmai Beth Garmai, ( ar, باجرمي ', Middle Persian: ''Garamig''/''Garamīkān''/''Garmagān'', New Persian/Kurdish: ''Garmakan'', syc, ܒܝܬ ܓܪܡܐ ', Latin and Greek: ''Garamaea'') is a historical region around the city of Kirkuk in northern ...

Jean Maurice Fiey Jean Maurice Fiey (30 March 1914 – 10 November 1995) was a French Dominican Father and prominent Church historian and Syriacist. Biography Fiey was born in Armentières on 30 March 1914, he entered the Dominican Order at an early age and rece ...

, ''Saints Syriaques'' (Darwin Press, 2004), pp. 59–60.Gerrit J. Reinink, "Babai the Great's ''Life of George'' and the Propagation of Doctrine in the Late Sasanian Empire", ''Portraits of Spiritual Authority'' (Brill, 1999), p. 172n. Her father, Yazdin, son of Mihrzbiroi, was the governor of

Nisibis Nusaybin (; '; ar, نُصَيْبِيْن, translit=Nuṣaybīn; syr, ܢܨܝܒܝܢ, translit=Nṣībīn), historically known as Nisibis () or Nesbin, is a city in Mardin Province, Turkey. The population of the city is 83,832 as of 2009 and is ...

. She converted from

Zoroastrianism Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...

to the

Church of the East The Church of the East ( syc, ܥܕܬܐ ܕܡܕܢܚܐ, ''ʿĒḏtā d-Maḏenḥā'') or the East Syriac Church, also called the Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, the Persian Church, the Assyrian Church, the Babylonian Church or the Nestorian C ...

. She was killed for refusing to consummate her marriage to a nobleman, and was venerated as a virgin martyr.David Wilmshurst, ''The Martyred Church: A History of the Church of the East'' (East and West Publishing, 2011), p. 87. According to a

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

martyrology, she was beaten to death with rods. The exact date of her death is unknown, but it was probably during the reign of

Khosrau I Khosrow I (also spelled Khosrau, Khusro or Chosroes; pal, 𐭧𐭥𐭮𐭫𐭥𐭣𐭩; New Persian: []), traditionally known by his epithet of Anushirvan ( [] "the Immortal Soul"), was the Sasanian Empire, Sasanian King of Kings of Iran from ...

(531–579). Not long after her death,

Babai the Great Babai the Great ( , c. 551 – 628) was an early church father of the Church of the East. He set several of the foundational pillars of the Church, revived the monastic movement, and formulated its Christology in a systematic way. He served as a ...

(died 628) wrote her biography in Syriac. Today only the preface survives. Since Babai lists all the

hagiographical A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

works he had written up to that point in his biography of

George of Izla George of Izla ( syc, ܓܝܘܪܓܝܣ ܕܐܝܙܠܐ, ', born Mihrām-gušnasp or Mihr-Māh-gošnasp, died 615) was an East Syriac martyr, theologian and interpreter. He was mainly remembered for his role in a royal disputation which eventually led to ...

(martyred 615), he must have written Christina's biography after that date. According to Babai, she was called Yazdoi "when she was pagan", but "in her new birth of adoption as a token of life, chose to be called Christina, a name that shall not pass". Christina is commemorated on 13 March in the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and the

Syriac Orthodox Church , native_name_lang = syc , image = St_George_Syriac_orthodox_church_in_Damascus.jpg , imagewidth = 250 , alt = Cathedral of Saint George , caption = Cathedral of Saint George, Damascus ...

. The

Roman Martyrology The ''Roman Martyrology'' ( la, Martyrologium Romanum) is the official martyrology of the Catholic Church. Its use is obligatory in matters regarding the Roman Rite liturgy, but dioceses, countries and religious institutes may add duly approved ...

describes her as follows: "In Persia, Saint Christina, martyr, who was flogged with rods and concluded the witness of martyrdom under King Chosroes I of the Persians." In the

Georgian Orthodox Church The Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს სამოციქულო ავტოკეფალური მართლმადიდებელი ეკლესია, tr), commonly ...

, her feast day was 15 March in the early 7th century. Some versions of the 10th-century church calendar of

Ioane-Zosime John Zosimus, also known as Ioane-Zosime ( ka, იოანე-ზოსიმე; died c. 990) was a 10th-century Georgian Christian monk, religious writer, and calligrapher. He is known for his liturgical compilations and for composing several ...

, however, give it as 14 March.Christina-Yazdoi, martyr in Persia
''The Cult of Saints in Late Antiquity'' (University of Oxford, 2017). The ''

Synaxarion of Constantinople The ''Synaxarion of Constantinople'' (or ''Synaxarion of the Great Church''), "Synaxarion containing abstracts of deeds of the blessed saints and martyrs for the whole year"; la, Synaxarium Ecclesiae Constantinopolitanae, "Synaxarion of the church ...

'' of the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

also gives 14 March.

References

Further reading