(d.860) Athanasia was born to Greek nobility on the island of Aegina and was drawn to religious life at a young age, but her parents arranged for her to be married to a soldier at 16. Her husband was killed in an Arab raid after only 16 days of marriage. Athanasia was forced into a second marriage due to an imperial edict requiring unmarried women to enter marriage. Athanasia and her husband were both dedicated to God and served the sick and poor. She decided to become a nun and her husband decided to become a monk. Athanasia gave away her wealth and converted her home into a convent, becoming abbess. Many miracles were attributed to her intercession after her death and at her gravesite.
Life didn’t initially go the way that Athanasia would have planned out for herself, but she surrendered to God and found a way to serve him in any circumstance. How do you turn powerlessness into service?
“The forty-day commemoration in church of those who have fallen asleep and the feeding of the poor greatly helps sinful souls, while heavenly mercy is sent down from righteous souls to those who carry out the commemoration” (Saint Athanasia of Aegina).
Reflection by Brad Farmer