ST. EUPHROSYNE OF POLATSK

The Saint of the Day for May 23 is ST. EUPHROSYNE OF POLATSK

Born in Polacak, Belorussia, in 1110; died 1173. Pradslava, the only East Slav virgin saint, was the granddaughter of Prince Polacak Usiaslau from whom she inherited a strong will. Determined to devote her life to God, she refused all marriage proposals and, finally, ran away to join her aunt's convent, Holy Wisdom. There she took the veil and the name Euphrosyne. The money Euphrosyne earned in copying books, she distributed to the poor.

Later she founded and ruled her own convent, Holy Savior, as well as a monastery. In trying to convince her father, Prince Sviataslau, to allow her sister Hardzislava join her at the convent, she argued that in this way Hardzislava would learn to read and write. She was also joined by two nieces and a cousin.

Euphrosyne commissioned a beautiful, gem-studded cross, which she gave to Holy Savior Church in 1161. This cross disappeared without a trace during World War II. Late in life she made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, where she died. After the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladin in 1187, Euphrosyne's relics were translated to the Monastery of the Caves in Kiev, Ukraine. In 1910, they were returned to Polacak (Nadson).