In the early 18th century in the Ottoman Empire, in the provincial town of Prusse there lived a beautiful Greek girl called Argery. She was brought up by pious parents and when she was young she met her love – a kind Greek youth. They got married in the church and their honeymoon was happy. But their Turkish neighbour was inflamed with lust towards Argery and tried with his sweet words to talk her into committing adultery in the absence of her husband. The pious wife declined his advances. Then the embittered Turk slandered her before the judge of Prusse by telling him that she had promised to become Moslem. According to the laws of Sharia, a person who expressed the wish to become Moslem must adopt Islam; if he denies thereafter he must be punished: for a man – death penalty, for a woman – life imprisonment. The judge, having believed the plaintiff, immediately put Argery into prison. Her husband, who thought the judgment was biased, demanded its transferal to Istanbul.
But it didn’t help. Both Argery and the Turkish plaintiff came to the court of the capital where the Moslem witnessed against her, giving the false evidence about her before the judge. Argery replied that she had never said anything like she was charged with She also said that she was not going to betray her faith; she was a Christian and wanted to die as a Christian. According to the judge’s order she was beaten and sentenced to life imprisonment.
She had fear, bitter separation with her beloved husband, the uncomforts of imprisonment, not to mention the regular insults from the Moslem criminals around her cell. Torment of the body, of the soul, of the heart, every day without interruption. And she could stop all this at any moment if she agrees to adopt Islam…
But spiritual joy helped her to overcome the sufferings and temptations. The martyr herself exhausted her body with fasting and other kinds of abstinence as was witnessed by other Christian women who were imprisoned together with the saint and later released.
So, she laboured in the prison during seventeen years. The saint’s heart was filled for joy because she labored for Christ. She considered her imprisonment such consolation that when one Christian called Manuil Curtsibasis offered her freedom she refused, choosing the prison rather than honor and freedom. In such a way, imprisoned for the sake of Christ, she passed away on 30th April 1725. Her holy relics were laid in the church of St. Paraskevi by the blessing of Patriarch Paisios and up until today the faithful venerate them.
Filed under: Christian, Eastern Orthodox, saints
