Kyriaki (martyr)

Saint Kyriaki (bulgarian: Света Неделя, Sveta Nedelya; Greek: "polytonic|Κυριακή, Kyriakē") was the daughter of two wealthy Greeks called Dorotheus and Eusebia. She got her name because she was born on Sunday (the Greek name for Sunday is polytonic|Κυριακή). Her parents were both Christians. When she grew older, she turned down many suitors. One of them went to the emperor Diocletian. He ordered her parents to be tortured for being Christians, and he later exiled them. Kyriaki was sent to his co-emperor Maximian to stand trial. When she refused to renounce her faith, the emperor ordered for her to be whipped. The men tortured Kyriaki in every possible way, but her faith simply wouldn't be broken. One night, as she lay in prison God spoke to her and said, "Don't be afraid of torture, Kyriaki. My spirit is with you." And she believed in him. She survived through many terrible ordeals, like being stranded with daunting, wild beasts and being being burnt with intense fire. In the end, she was beheaded. As she was about to be decapitated, she started praying to God. That was the last thing that she ever did. At the time of her death she was 21 years old. Her name day is on the 7 July each year.