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260 200 ST. THEOPHILA St. Theophila (2), Dec 28. When the guards of the Emperor Galerius searched all the conyents in and near Nicomedia for St. Domna, they insulted the consecrated virgins and acted as if they were in a town taken by assault. All the nuns who could escape fled and hid themselves in the mountains. They succeeded, however, in taking Theophila, who was very beautiful and of high rank and great virtue. She prayed : " Lord, take care of me for I have not even time to pray to Thee." She took the book of the gospels out of her bosom and began to read it aloud. A bad man, seized with terror, trembled and fell dead at her feet; another was struck blind. Several conversions ensued. An angel took her out of the house at night, and left her in a church. R.M, Daras, Les Chretiens a la cour de Dioddiien, {See Domna (lY) St. Theophila (3), Godeleva. St. Theopista (l), Sept. 20, Nov. 2 (Philista, Tatiana), M. at Rome under Hadrian, a.d. 118, with St. Eustace. She was wife of a valiant general, Placidus by name, who served under the Emperor Trajan. They were upright and charit- able, but they were heathen. One day, however, Placidus who loved hunting, had pursued a stag into a remote part of the mountains. As he prepared to bring his quarry down, he saw between its horns a crucifix of dazzling brilliancy, and the stag, with a human voice, spoke to him of Jesus Christ. Marvelling much, he re- turned home at nightfall and related the miracle to his wife, Tatiana. He found that in his absence Christ had been re- vealed to her also. That night they sought the high priest of the Christians and were l^ptized with all their household. Placidus received the new name of Eus- tathius, Tatiana was called thenceforth Theopista, and their two sons, Agapius and Theopistus. Not many days slipped away before the faith of the new converts was put to the test by bitter adversity. They lost in succession their servants, their cattle and all their valuables. " We have become an object of scorn to all who know us," said Theopista, "let us take our two children, for they alone remain to us, and leave this country." So they set out, on foot, for the sea-coast and took ship for Egypt. Doriug the voyage the captain of the vessel was struck by Theopista's beauty, and eagerly sought an opportunity to get her into his power. When the voyagers came to dis- embark, they had no money to pay their passage. The captain, secretly delighted, said he would retain Theopista as a pledge. Resistance was of no avail, so Eustathius, groaning, went on his way with his two sons. Very soon a flooded river barred his path. He bore one child over upon his shoulder and was making his way again through the water to fetch the second, when before his very eyes, a lion seized one son and a wolf the other and both beasts made off into the forest. In a frenzy of despair Eustathius attempted to end his life in the river, but Grod brought him safely from the water with renewed courage, and he became a hired servant in a village named Badyssus. Meanwhile, Theopista, wiUi eager prayers to heaven, had changed the heart of the ruffian who would have harmed her and he became her protector from all evil. When at length he died, she under- took the charge of a garden in a strange land. Thtis fifteen years passed. At the end of that time enemies invaded Roman ter- ritory and the emperor, hard pressed, be- thought him of General Placidus. Search was made for him far and wide. Eusta- thius desired only to remain in obscurity, but two soldiers identified him by a scar, and he was reinstated in his command. He recognised at once that the strength of the Roman army was insufficient and directed that new levies should be raised throughout the empire. Among the re- cruits were two youths remarkable for the height of their stature and the nobility of their character. He attached them to his bodyguard and loved then with pecu- liar affection. The campaign was pushed far into the enemy's country and it so befell, that in a certain village of the barbarians, the general's tent was pitched near the garden of which Theopista had the charge, and the two soldiers were quartered in her cottage. As they reclined at noonday, they fell to talking of the days of their