St. Iphigenia

Saint Ephigenia of Ethiopia or Iphigenia of Ethiopia, also called Iphigenia of Abyssinia is a folk saint whose life is told in the Golden Legend as a virgin converted to Christianity and then consecrated to God by St. Matthew the Apostle, who was spreading the Gospel to the region of "Ethiopia", which in this case is understood to be located in the regions south of the Caspian Sea, either in one of the provinces of Mesopotamia (Assyria and Babylon), or in Ancient Armenia (Colchis). According to the legend, Ephigenia was the daughter of Ethiopian King Egippus. She was dedicated to God by Saint Matthew the Apostle, who veiled her. When Hirtacus succeeded the King, he promised the apostle half of his kingdom if he could persuade Ephigenia to marry him. Matthew thus invited the king to Mass the following Sunday where he explained that she was already espoused to the eternal King and thus could not be purloined by Hirtacus. The king thus sent a swordsman to kill Matthew who stood at the altar, making him a martyr. Not having managed to bend Ephigenia to his will, Hirtacus tried to destroy her home with fire. However, the apostle appeared and warded the flames from the house, turning them upon the royal palace. The king's son was seized by the devil and the king himself contracted leprosy, eventually killing himself. The people thus chose Ephigenia's brother as their king, who reigned for seventy years, leaving his kingdom to his son who filled Egypt with Christian churches. Saint Ephigenia's feast day in the Roman Catholic Church, along with Saint Matthew's, is on September 21.