Saint Martha ( el, Ἁγία Μάρθα, died 551) was the mother of

Simeon Stylites the Younger Saint Simeon Stylites the Younger, also known as Simeon of the Admirable Mountain ( el, Συμεὼν ὁ νεώτερος ὁ στυλίτης, Arabic: مار سمعان العمودي الأصغر ''mār semʻān l-ʻamūdī l-asghar'') (521 ...

. She is

venerated Veneration ( la, veneratio; el, τιμάω ), or veneration of saints, is the act of honoring a saint, a person who has been identified as having a high degree of sanctity or holiness. Angels are shown similar veneration in many religions. Etym ...

in 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 vi ...

July 4 Events Pre-1600 *362 BC – Battle of Mantinea: The Thebans, led by Epaminondas, defeated the Spartans. * 414 – Emperor Theodosius II, age 13, yields power to his older sister Aelia Pulcheria, who reigned as regent and proclaime ...

and 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 ...

July 5 Events Pre-1600 * 328 – The official opening of Constantine's Bridge built over the Danube between Sucidava (Corabia, Romania) and Oescus ( Gigen, Bulgaria) by the Roman architect Theophilus Patricius. * 1316 – The Burgundian a ...

.Nominis.fr Sainte Marthe
/ref> When her parents betrothed her to a young man, she seriously considered leaving home and withdrawing from the world. However,

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

is said to have appeared to her and advised her to do as her parents had arranged and marry the man to whom they had betrothed her. Simeon Stylites was the child of this marriage. She is said to have risen at midnight for prayer every night. She regularly helped those in need, visited the poor and orphans, and attended to the sick. In the year before her death, she is said to have seen a number of

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inclu ...

s with candles in their hands and to have learned the time of her upcoming death from them. The vision prompted her to even greater dedication to prayer and good works. She died in 551 AD, and was buried near her son. There have been many reports of her appearing to various people since her death, generally to heal the sick and offer instruction to people. The most noted of these was to an abbot of the monastery founded by her son. The abbot placed a

votive candle A votive candle or prayer candle is a small candle, typically white or beeswax yellow, intended to be burnt as a votive offering in an act of Christian prayer, especially within the Anglican, Lutheran, and Roman Catholic Christian denominations, ...

on her grave with the instruction that the light never be allowed to be extinguished. Martha appeared to him saying that when the abbot burned a light on her grave, he was asking her to pray to the Lord for him.

References

Prolog:July 4 of the Western American Diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martha, Mother Of Simeon Stylites The Younger 551 deaths 6th-century Christian saints Year of birth unknown Angelic visionaries Christian female saints of the Middle Ages 6th-century women