2023-07-25 07:43:00
July 25, 2023 / 12:43 a.m.
According to Eusebius of Caesarea, when he talks about the martyrs of Palestine, he narrates that at the beginning of Christianity the governor Firmilian ordered the torture of a large group of Egyptian Christians who had been deported to Palestine.
They were joined by some Christians from the area and a group from Gaza, who were captured while celebrating the liturgy.
“A Christian, a woman according to her body, but virile due to her bravery and courage, faced the tyrant for which she was flogged, subjected to the torture of the rack, and her ribs were broken,” says Eusebio. To her that she was attributed the name of Ennata, or Thea, according to some versions.
While Thea was being tortured, another woman, named Valentina (the brave one), could not bear the heinous spectacle and ran up to the governor to shout at him: “Why do you treat this my sister so cruelly? Do you want to torture me the same as this young lady?”
They immediately pushed her to the altar to force her to offer sacrifices to the pagan gods, but since she kicked the brazier, they threw her and burned her with the embers that were scattered on the floor.
Subsequently both were tortured and burned alive. It is said that Thea came from Gaza, but that Valentina was from Caesarea and a well-known woman.
It was July 25, 308 of our era.
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