St Polyxene the Disciple of the Apostles, who died in Spain

Commemorated on September 23


The Monastic Women Xanthippe and Polyxene were sisters by birth and they lived in Spain in the time of the holy Apostles. They were among the first to hear the divine teaching of Christ the Savior from the holy Apostle Paul, when he preached in their land.


St Xanthippe and her husband Probus accepted Christianity, but St Polyxene was still a pagan when a certain man became entranced with her extraordinary beauty and forcibly carried her off to Greece on a ship. The Lord preserved her unharmed. On the voyage, the saint heard the preaching of the holy Apostle Peter and believed in Christ.


When she arrived in Greece, St Polyxene turned to the Christians for protection and defense and they hid her in the city of Patra in Achaia, where she formally accepted Christianity and was baptized by the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called himself.


She became a witness to his miracles, and how he patiently and humbly endured his sufferings and death. She stood at the cross upon which they crucified the holy Apostle Andrew. After his martyric death, St Polyxene returned to Spain, where she and her older sister Xanthippe converted many pagans to Christ. St Polyxene toiled for about forty years preaching the Gospel in Spain. St Xanthippe shared in her sister's work and preached in the populous city of Toledo.


St Polyxene reposed in about the year 109, having preserved her virginity to the end of her earthly life.


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