By Bishop Grigorios of Mesaoria
Today, January 12th, the day is called ‘Sunday after the Day of the Lights’. The Orthodox Church continues to celebrate the Great Feast of the Epiphany. In addition, the Orthodox Church commemorates St. Martyr Tatiana, who was beheaded by Emperor Alexander Severus because she was a Christian and courageously confessed her faith in the Lord. She came from Rome and her father was elected consul.
Saint Tatiana was made a deaconess in one of the churches and it is said that she also was a discipline of Apostles Peter and Paul. She has a prominent position among Christians considering that she was a descendant of an illustrious family and most importantly she was preaching with plenty of zeal. However, idolaters could no longer put up with a woman of aristocratic origin, who was not worshipping idols and remained steadfast in her faith in the Lord.
When the persecution of the Christians began, Saint Tatiana was arrested and brought before the Emperor. She entered with him into an idolatrous temple, where she began praying to God and suddenly there was an earthquake. The wooden idols were smashed into pieces, and part of the temple collapsed. For this reason, she was fiercely tortured. They threw her into the fire, but the fire did not harm her. Then, during another torture, the ferocious beasts did not harm the Saint either. Finally, she was beheaded and since then she was in the loving embrace and bosom of the Almighty God.
Source: Church of Cyprus