Saint Christina was martyred in the third century. She lived in Tyre with her father, the powerful commander Urbanus, and her mother during the days of the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus (194-211). They were all pagans, and her name was not yet Christina, but she was given this name after she knew Christ and believed in Him.
Because the girl was very beautiful, her father locked her up in a high tower where he provided her with all the means of comfort and placed idols in her room to worship them daily. Christina spent her time contemplating nature that she saw from the window: the sun, the moon, the stars, plants, animals and humans. She understood that idols made by humans cannot be gods, and that there must be one Creator God. The grace of God came upon her and led her to the knowledge of the truth. Then an angel was sent to her who taught her everything that she had felt in a mysterious way in her heart about God and creation, and he named her Christina, meaning “Christian.”
Her parents came to her and asked her to worship idols. She refused and said that she had become a disciple of Christ, the true light who had come into the world. After that, and despite all her father's attempts to persuade her, Christina destroyed all the idols in her room. Her father became angry and sent her to prison and torture with the intention of beheading her the next morning. But he died that same night.
A commander named Dion came in his place and continued to torture Christina severely in various ways, but he died and the saint remained steadfast. A commander named Julianus took his place and ordered her to be tortured, parts of her body to be cut off, her to be locked in a burning oven and thrown into a pit with snakes and wild animals. Many believed in Christ after witnessing Christina's suffering and perseverance. Finally, the soldiers killed her, and she received the crown of martyrdom while she was still a young girl in the prime of her life.
The church commemorates her on July 24.
Troparion of the Fourth Torah
Your ewe, O Jesus, cries out to you with a loud voice, saying: O my Bridegroom, I long for you, and I strive to seek you, and I am crucified and buried with you in your baptism, and I suffer for you so that I may reign with you, and I die for you so that I may live through you, but as a spotless sacrifice accept her who was sacrificed to you with longing, so through her intercessions, since you are merciful, save our souls.
Qandaq with the fourth tune
You have been known as a dove with a radiant countenance, bearing golden wings, flying to the height of names, O pure Christina, so we raise your glorious hand, prostrating in faith to the basin of your members, from which you pour out to all in truth a divine healing for souls and envy.
