Martyr
Christina of Tyre
Martyr Christina of Tyre († c. 300)
New Calendar July 24 Old Calendar August 6
Why they are a saint
She was from Tyre in Syria, the daughter of a pagan named Urban. She is a miraculous example of one brought to faith in Christ without any human intervention. When she was about eleven years old, her father, seeing her great beauty and wanting to protect her from men until she was grown, made her live alone on the top floor of a fine house, with slaves, all worldly comforts, and gold and silver idols.
Life
Saint Christina lived in the third century; her father Urban was governor of Tyre and wished her to become a pagan priestess. Kept alone among gold and silver idols, she came to see that they could create nothing and prayed with tears to the one God; an angel instructed her in the faith of Christ. She smashed the idols.
She endured cruel tortures from her father and from the governors who followed him, and from prison she converted about 300 people. Shut in a red-hot furnace for five days, she was found alive and unharmed, and many believed; she was then executed with the sword.
Sources: OCA Lives of the Saints. Retold in our own words.
Traditional patronage
The cited source names no specific patronage.
Patronage / why chosen as patron
Orthodox Christians usually take Christina of Tyre as a patron when they bear the name Christina at baptism, or were born or baptized near the feast on July 24. As a martyr, she is also asked for courage and faithfulness under trial.
Prayer
O holy Christina of Tyre, pray to God for us.
A short general prayer to a saint, not a liturgical text. No public-domain troparion for this saint is included.