Now Theodore and Atrosyana were God fearing people & they sought a child until their old age but were barren. They prayed, gave tithes & did righteous deeds, & later, God granted them Arsiema. When she was 3 years old, her parents gave her to the Church & from then on she learned & served in the church.
When she was 15 years old, King Diocletian was in reign. This emperor had all his soldiers find the most beautiful maiden for him to marry. In a convent in Rome the soldiers found St. Arsiema, & sent her picture to the King. He decided to marry her & invited all kings for a wedding. When the nuns discovered this, they fled to Armenia in the caves of the country struggling to survive.
After King Diocletian heard this, he asked King Tiridates to send them to him. King Tiridates, worshiping the sun, was persecuting Christians. He found the nuns, and lusted after St. Arsiema, wanting her for himself, attempted to have her worship the idols. St. Arsiema remembered the words “You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles” Matt 10:18, & longed to become martyred for Christ’s name. He burned with fury & starved all Christians & put many into a furnace, but God saved them from their trials.
Future St. Arsiema's Monastery in Adi Hawisha, Eritrea
Since King Tiridates wasn’t able to receive his desire, he ordered all of the virgins to be beheaded. St. Arsiema remembered the word of God, & saw them receiving crowns of glory for their martyrdom, anticipating hers with joy in prayer.
At the end, as our Lord, God, & Savior promised saying “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.” Ps. The King ordered for St. Arsiema to be beheaded, & the soldier cut off her tongue, her eyes gouged, & cut her body into pieces.
When they beheaded her, blood, water, milk & honey dripped down. Now her holy body was taken by the angels with singing into the heavens.
After the King lost his mind, & began living with wild beasts, St. Gregory prayed for him & he came back to himself. He believed in God, & gathered the relics of the martyrs.
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