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Domnina of Syria

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Saint Domnina of Syria
Miniature from the Menologion of Basil II
Died~460
Syria
Venerated inMaronite Church
Catholic Church
Eastern Orthodox Church
FeastMarch 1

Saint Domnina of Syria (Greek: Δομνίνα Συρίας) also known as Domnina the Younger, was a 5th-century ascetic.[1] Her name is mentioned in the Byzantine Synaxarium.[1] and according to Theodoret, bishop of Cyrrhus, Domnina was born to a rich Syrian family.[1]

Life

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She became a disciple of Saint Maron.[2]

As a young woman she constructed a straw-covered hut in the garden of her mother's house, located in Cyrrhus near Antioch.[3]

She passed all of her life there, to the point where she became extremely thin.[1] She only ate lentils soaked in water[2] and went to church in the morning and in the evening. Domnina covered her face in a veil so that no one could see her face.[2] She had 250 female followers, who passed the time doing manual labor and carding wool.

Theodoret writes, in his Religious History (chap. XXX in Patrologia Graeca), that Domnina acquired such a state of religious ecstasy that she could not speak without weeping as she was considered to have been inspired by the love of God.[1]

She died between 450 and 460 AD.[2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Antonio Borrelli (6 Feb 2003). "Santa Domnina". Santi e beati. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d Fr. S. Janos (1996–2001). "The Nun Domnina of Syria". Holy Trinity Orthodox. Retrieved May 19, 2009.
  3. ^ "Virginmartyr Domnina of Syria", Orthodox Church in America