Saint
Olympias the Deaconess
New Calendar July 25 Old Calendar August 7
Why they are a saint
Olympias, also known as Saint Olympias and sometimes known as Olympias the Younger to distinguish her from her aunt of the same name was a Christian Roman noblewoman of Greek descent. Olympias was born sometime between 361 and 368 and raised in either Constantinople or Antioch. She was the daughter born to the Antiochian Greek noblewoman, Alexandra and the wealthy Greek Rhetor, Seleucus.
Life
Saint Olympias was the daughter of the senator Anicius Secundus. Her betrothed died while she was young, and she chose a life of virginity. Inheriting great wealth, she gave it to the poor, orphans and widows, and to churches, monasteries and shelters, regarding her riches as God's rather than her own.
Patriarch Nectarius appointed her a deaconess, and she cared for the hierarchs who came to Constantinople, among them Saint Gregory the Theologian and Saint Epiphanius of Cyprus. Saint John Chrysostom held her in high regard, and she grieved deeply when he was unjustly banished. At her own wish her coffin was cast into the sea; it came ashore near Constantinople, and her relics were later placed in the women's monastery she had founded there, where healings occurred.
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 Olympias the Deaconess as a patron when they bear the name Olympias at baptism, or were born or baptized near the feast on July 25.
Prayer
O holy Olympias the Deaconess, 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.