Lives Of The Saints
December 17
St Olympias
Olympias is a woman of rank who spent herself like a servant. Her life is not built on one dramatic scene, but on generosity, constancy, and endurance under ecclesiastical persecution.
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St Olympias
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Brief life
Olympias is one of the great noble widows of the ancient Church at Constantinople. Rich, intelligent, and highly placed, she was married young to the prefect Nebridius, but after his early death resolved to remain single and to use her fortune for the poor and for the Church. Even imperial pressure could not persuade her into another marriage, and in time she offered herself for consecration as a deaconess under St Nectarius.
This life shows her house becoming a refuge, her wealth becoming alms and support, and her name becoming closely linked above all with St John Chrysostom. When Chrysostom was persecuted and banished she shared the cost of loyalty to him, enduring accusation, fines, exile, sickness, and slander without losing the charity that had marked her from the start.
Historical note
This life uses St Olympias because Butler gives her a fuller and more historically grounded life than the much more legendary post-gospel Lazarus material on the same date.
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Nearby saint lives
Move through the calendar without leaving the saint library. These nearby feast-day lives help keep the reading trail connected.
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Carry this saint into prayer
A direct related novena is not surfaced for this saint yet, but the broader library is ready if you want to move from reading into prayer.