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St. Demiana was born at the end of the 3rd century A.D. to Christian parents. Her mother was a pious lady and her father was the governor of Burulus and Za'faran, Egypt. A large and wealthy province, Burulus and Za'faran include modern day Bilquas, Sherbin, Baltim, and Al-Mansourah up to lake Al-Burulus in the north. Egypt was then part of the Roman empire under the rule of Diocletian.

She was baptized at Al-Mimah monastery, south of Za'faran. She received the sacrament of baptism among many prayers and solemn vows. Upon their return home, her family gave a dinner party for the poor that lasted for three whole days. Thus, Demiana was raised in the fear and love of God.

She loved to read anything and everything about the Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour. By the time she was a teenager, she had decided to live for the Lord. When a suitable noble asked for her hand in marriage, she declined, opting for a life devoted to worship of the Lord Jesus Christ. Her father was rather pleased. He encouraged her and built her a house in a quiet and secluded neighbourhood so that she and a few of her friends could entertain an ideal life of prayers and worship. At this point, Demiana had just turned 15 years old. To celebrate her moving into her new house, actually a convent, her family gave a party that lasted 7 days. She and her 40 friends spent their nights praying and their days praising the Lord. Thus, the 40 girls wer all enveloped in this remarkable union in the Love of God.

The word spread carrying the news of a fervent worship for the Lord Jesus Christ in St. Demiana's quarters, unlike any devotion that Diocletian the emperorar had ever heard of. So he approached her father, Marcus, who was basically supporting the convent, and asked him to serve the pagan gods. Marcus obeyed the emperor.

Upon hearing about this disasterous event, Demiana was devastated and asked her companions to fast and pray in order to bring her father back to his senses. She wen to visit him imploring him not to give up the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. She quoted to him Matthew 10:28, when the Lord Jesus said, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kille the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell." She went on, gently repeating the words of the Lord, reminding her father the verses from Matthew 10:32-33, "Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven." She even threatened to disown him as a father!

Consequently, her father burst out crying, praying, pleading, and praising the Lord, saying: "How great You are, God. You took me in and did not let my enemies rejoice at my misfortune. You pulled me from hell, for I slipped into this hole. The enemy persecuted my soul, humiliated my life on earth, and set me up in darkness. Oh Lord, how my faith was shaken. Blessed is the hour when I saw you, my daughter, for you have saved me from hell." Then he left to Antioch (modern day Syria) to meet with Emperor Diocletian, aiming to set the record straight.

Once he go there and met the emperor, Marcus crossed himself and proceeded to scream in the face of the famed ruler saying, "I sinned - no, I committed a crime towards my God and my Saviour Jesus Christ, my true King, who has shed His blood for me. And today, now, I come to you and confess that I am willing to shed my blood for the One who truly loved and died for me. I want to recant everything I said against my God and my prostration before the sculpture made my hands, which the Psalmist called devils, 'All Gentiles' gods are devils.'"

After this confrontational speech, Diocletain got very upset. He was alarmed and perplexed from Marcus' language and wondered what had happened to trigger this behaviour change in him. He recommended that Marcus should be taken to a place where he could rest and think things over. After this, the governor still attested the decision and delared his certainty about his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and that he did not negotiate his beliefs.

Romanius, Diocletian's advisor, told the emperor that beheading Marcus was the solution to this impertinence, but Diocletian was reluctant because Marcus was one of his best governors. He was reliable, honest and loyal. However, he pondered the disobedience to worship the pagan gods and the recanting of his prostrations to the statues was too much to forgive. So Diocletian, against his better judgment, agreed with Romanius' advice and behead Marcus. He died on the 5th of Abib of the Coptic Calendar, which is also the Feast of the Apostles.

Diocletian regretted the death of the faithful Marcus. He was highly distressed for losing such a good worker, and spent the following days mourning his death. Romanius then explained to him that Marcus' change of heart was because of his daughter Demiana, who lives with 40 nuns, preaching to whomever will listen about the Lord Jesus Christ, her Lord and Saviour. Therefore, Diocletian sent 100 soldiers to the place where Demiana resided. He instructed them to first be nice to her and try and persuade her to worship the pagan gods and even offer her a bigger palace. If she proved to be stubborn and uncooperative with the emperor's request, then they should torture her. The soldiers left and arrived at Demiana's palace at night. They camped around the convent waiting for the morning hours.

In the morning, when St. Demiana woke up and saw the scene of the camped soldiers, she gathered her companions and asked them to hurry and pray, seeking strength from the Lord Jesus Christ. She also offered them a chance to leave. She said that if they were not willing to die, it would be best to leave at this moment. They all stayed, preferring to face martyrdom, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, "And whoever exalts himself will be abased, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:12, Luke 14:11) While talking and praying, they heard a knock on the door. A messenger from the emperor with an oral message for St. Demiana presented himself and said, "The emperor is inviting you to worship his gods and he is wating for you to accompany me to go see him offer incense to the gods. He promises comepensation as large as half of his empire." St. Demiana's answer was quick, "How do you dare call stone, gold, and silver - the abode of the devils - a god? Are you crazy? How can a still idol, carried by man from place to place, be considered a god? They have eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear, and mouths that are mute. It is strange that you should call your crafts gods and worship them. Me, I am the servant of my Master, King and Saviour Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ is my God together with His Father and the Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity, King Eternal, the Giver of life, Creator of heaven and earth, Him I confess! Him I rely on! And by His name I should live or die!"

Upon hearing her spiritual reply, her powerful insistence on worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ, and her obstinate refusal of paying homage to the pagan gods, the messenger was so mad that he gnashed his teeth and ordered the beginning of her torture.

The first torture was to place her in a sugar cane press in front of her companions. They cried for her pain. Meanwhile, she was praying to God saying, "The Lord Jesus Christ my God, who was crucified on the cross by His own will between two thieves, lift my mind higher and do not let me think of the ills of the flesh. Let me dwell on the work of the heavens, and accept from me this first pain in your name, for Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen."

Then she addressed the virgins saying, "Do not cry over me, for this suffering is nothing compared to what the Lord Jesus Christ endured. He who was without sin accepted the death on the cross. Him, the Mighty God, accepted death. He accepted crucifixion. So me, the servant, the sinner, should ask for death. And at the very least, I should accept this with joy, because I have faith in His promises. Since the suffering of this present life does not measure with the glory of the life to come, in heaven."

Finally, when her torturing team tired from her praying and endurance, in spite of her bleeding and extreme bodily pain, they decided to lock her up in a cell together with the crying virgins. Suddenly, a great light befell the cell and the Archangel Michael stood in front of her, bidding her peace. He touched her body and she was healed completely and perfectly, and then he left while Demiana was thanking him and praising the Lord.

The following day the messenger of the emperor, who thought she must be dead, was in for a great surprise. St. Demiana stood before him healty and whole. He was determined that she must be dealing with black magic and he thought of other tortures for her. Many converted to Christianity when they learned that St. Demiana was spared from death.

The second torture was to comb St. Demiana's body with razors. Again, she started praying contentedly. The third torture was to massage her body with pigs' hair along with vinegar and lime. Her screams were mingled with praise to God who allowed her to partake in His pains. Then she was thrown in jail. Almost out of breath, she continued her praying and pleading with God to be able to continue in her life to witness to Him, the only loving God, Jesus Christ. Then, with a from the Archangel Michael as before, he healed her again. The emperor's representative, to his distress, found her in complete health and happiness. Many people converted to Christianity only to be martyred by the frustrated emperor's messenger. He did not know how to convince St. Demiana to worship the idols.

Then the emperor's representative decided that just maybe he should use an iron whip on St. Demiana and he thought he might break her bones. But when she showed no sign of movement, he ordered her to be placed in a cauldron made of copper with boiling lard and tar. Then the crowd heard her singing, "I praise God since I am still alive." Again, she was blessed by the presence of Archangel Michael who cured her of all her burns. She hurried to the emperor's representative telling him that here she was and her God is the Lord Jesus Christ. And again, more people converted Christianity and were killed as quickly as they accepted the new faith. St. Demiana was thrown back in jail, and the messenger asked her, "Why don't you save yourself the trouble and just worship the gods?" Her quick and sure answer was that she abided by her God the Lord Jesus Christ and automatically refused his repeated proposition.

The representative then ordered the drilling of her head and that they should pour boiling oil on her with lead and matches. This was followed by plucking out her eyes and then skinned her head. She started screaming, calling on her God and affirming her faith. At the moment she felt she was dying, a white dove came near her and she was restored to health again. All her pain was gone and was thrown in a dark cell with her companions for 10 days. But soon, a divine light filled the dungeon. At the end of the specified time, the guards were hoping for her to change her mind. Instead, they were amazed at the wonderful light and they fell on their knees bowing. She was reciting from Psalm 35, "For without cause they hid their net for me; without cause they dug a pit for my life. Let ruin come on them unawares. And let the net they hid ensnare them; let them fall in it to their ruin. Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord, exalting in His deliverance. All my bones shall say, 'O Lord, who is like You? You deliver the weak from those too strong for them, the weak and needy from those who deposit them.'" The emperor's representative interrupted her, pleading with her that just for once she would bow and worship the pagan statues. She debated with him, "Just tell me how many times I should repeat myself. For three years now, I proclaim that my God is the Lord Jesus Christ."

The eighth torture came as no surprise to her. They spread her body and tied it to four poles so that her limbs would stretch and tear. She looked towards the east praying to her God. She entreated her companions to continue praying. Then she addressed the guards asking them not to delay pulling the ropes, so they did, and she died. They threw her to the hungry beasts, but to the amazement of all, they wouldn't touch her. At that gathering, the earth trembled and the people fell on their faces at this phenomena. The Lord Jesus Christ and His mother St. Mary, accompanied by the angels, arrived on the scene. The Lord Jesus Christ addressed the body's pieces of St. Demiana saying, "I command you blessed daughter, get up healed." And she got up and worshipped Him. He continued saying, "Your place is ready in my kingdom. The coming generations will know this place, where your church will be built, and will be blessed."

St. Demiana went to Diocletian's messenger presenting herself triumphantly, "Here I am; my God resurrected me from death." The people cried saying, "We believe in your God." The governor decided to do one more thing. He decided to cut her throat by the sword, and that day, she and her companions, and 400 more people who chose the Lord Jesus Christ were executed. St. Demiana died on the 13th of Tuba in the Coptic calendar.

When persecution ended in the 4th century A.D. and Christianity became the official religion, St. Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, went to visit the place where St. Demiana was buried and was surprised that her body was untouched by decay and did not rot. She gave her a royal burial and built a church in her name.

ÜMay the prayers of this blessed saint be with us all, Amen.