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St. Matrona of Perge

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St. Matrona was a woman who defied all of the gender norms of her time. She left her husband and family, and dressed as a man so that she could serve God her own way. As a “transvestite” saint, she is known for renouncing any feminine characteristics that would get in the way of worshipping God properly, and worshipping Him in her terms. Her husband made a vast attempt to try to find her and bring her home, the “proper” place for a woman.

Early Life

Born in Perge, she was married at 12 to a man named Domitianus. She had one child, a daughter named Theodote, who’s life was dedicated to God from birth. After marriage, she “led a moderate and modest social life” and “did not care for vain beauty, but trained the inner man, thus trying zealously to go through life with dignity and sobriety.” She eventually moved to Byzantium with her husband. She went to the saint’s churches everyday. “She would not stay away from them day or night, fasting, praying, sharing her possessions with the needy, and earnestly begging God to put an end to her inner fight against the flesh, for she was young then, not more than twenty­five years old.” She eventually left her husband to pursue the life of a “spiritual and divine” person and gave her daughter away to a nun. In order not to be caught by her husband, went into a monastery, shaved her head and donned monk's robes. She became well-liked and respected as a fellow holy “man.” She eventually was found out by the monks, but she was so well respected that they let her stay. Soon, however, her husband heard that a woman was caught in a monastery, and went to find her. The monks protected her whereabouts and set her off in a ship to a monastery in Emesa where she became abbess of the nunnery.

Miracles and Cults

At the same time, a farmer near by “saw a flame gushing out of the earth” which “was constant and did not stop.” The clergyman discovered a jar at the site which held the “head of [St. John] the Baptist.” Later, which myrrh was removed from. Saint Matrona found the jar and protected it in her nunnery. At one time, she put myrrh from the head around the eyes of a man born blind and then “he was able to see the light he who had never seen before.” From there, she performed more miracles and gained fame throughout the land. Through the fame, Domitianus found where his wife was located. She asked for a period of seven days until she would see him. In this time, she escaped to Jerusalem. He looked for her in Jerusalem, and gave local women the description of his lost wife in order to locate her. She persuaded the women that she needed three days to go to Sinai, and then she’d go back to him. He knew it was an excuse and followed her. She stopped near Beirut, and she stayed at a idol’s temple thinking that dealing with her husband would be worse than dealing with the demons and animals lurking there, for they could only harm her body, while her husband would harm both body, and soul. She settled there and spent her time singing, praying, and being protected by God. The Devil, or the “Evil One” tried to tempt her into his ways, and it made him very angry that the blessed women wouldn’t follow him, so he made threats against her. Eventually, time came when the temple were finally rid of demons. She started to gain a following of devout women disciples, and they gave up their families and world in order to learn from the blessed Matrona.

Final Years

One day, she wished to see her teacher, Basianus, of the monastery that she first joined as a “man.” He was in Constantinople - which was also where her husband was located. After much prayer, she had a revelation telling her that God wanted her in Constantinople. She left Beirut and went to Constantinople. Basianus set up a modest home for “the saintly woman” near his monastery, and eventually she called for her sisters in Beirut to come join her. She lived to 100 years, only having spent 25 of them in worldly life.

External links

• Alice- Mary Talbot: "Holy Women of Byzantium: Ten Lives in English Translation" [2]