Saint Genevieve

January 3rd
Troparion (Tone 8)
Through thee the divine likeness was securely preserved, O Mother Genevieve; for thou didst carry the cross and followed Christ.  By example and precept thou didst teach us to ignore the body because it is perishable, and to attend to the concerns of the undying soul.  Therefore, doth thy soul rejoice with the angels.  

St. Genevieve was born of wealthy parents in Nanterre, Gaul in 422.  When she was seven years old, St. Germanus or Auxerre blessed her by placing a kiss on her head.  He told her parents that she would become great in the sight of God.  St. Genevieve told St. Germanus that she wished to dedicate her life to Christ.  Germanus gave her an image of the cross to wear around her neck.  St. Genevieve promised to wear it always and to avoid any other ornamentation.  When St. Genevieve was fifteen, she became a nun and was known to be very diligent in prayer and fasting.   God gave her the gifts of clairvoyance and wonderworking.  She is attributed with the deliverance of Paris from Attila the Hun through her prayers and fasting.  One windy night when she and her fellow nuns were on their way to the Saturday night Vigil service, their lamps blew out and they could no longer see the way.  St. Genevieve calmly prayed and made the sign of the cross over the lamps.  They were relit with a brilliant flame and the nuns were able to go make it to the service that night.  St. Genevieve loved the Vigil service and spoke of it's great importance.  This is why she holds the lit candle.  She fell asleep in Christ at the age of eighty-nine in 512.  

This icon is by the hand of Nick Papas and is from St. Michael Antiochian Orthodox Church in Greensburg, Pennsylvania. 

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