The Passion of the Holy Martyr Eulalia
In the reign of the pagan emperors, when the whole universe was darkened by the Hellenized godlessness, in the Spanish city of Barquinon [now Barcelona] lived a certain maiden, named Evlalia, <unk> daughter of Christian parents.
Eulalia was taught books, and she had one firm intention <unk> to serve the Lord with her virginity blameless. And the saint practiced in reading books, and in praising God day and night, dwelling in a special cell with her peers.
In 305 AD, Dacian, the god of war, came to Barquinon and offered abominable sacrifices to his gods, then he began to search for Christians to force them to burn incense to idols.
And when the virgin Euodia heard these things, she was filled with great joy, and said, I thank thee, Lord Jesus Christ, and praised be thy holy name; for I have received that which I desired. I believe in thee, Lord, that the desire of my heart shall be fulfilled in thee.
And when Eulalia's father and mother, and the maidens that stood by her, heard her words, they said to her, What is the reason of her joy? and, What is this that thou hast received? and, What is this that thou desirest? And she said nothing to them, for she thought [it] in her heart.
And they were all amazed, for the saint had a habit of not concealing anything that she understood concerning the holy faith, but as much as she herself understood in the books, being enlightened by the grace of God, so much did she relate to all for the benefit of all, why all loved her as their own soul. She did not then tell about her thoughts to Eulalia in order not to meet obstacles to her intentions on the part of her father and mother, who loved her exceedingly.
And when the night was come, and they were all asleep, and the first rooster crowed, the holy virgin went out of her house secretly, and no man perceived her departure, and went to the city, full of love for her heavenly Bridegroom, Christ the Lord, having a firm purpose to lay down her soul for him.
And this night's journey did not seem to her to be as dreadful as it usually is for all young girls who are afraid to leave their homes at night. Having placed all their trust in God and determined to die for Him, the saint disregarded the darkness of the night, was not troubled by the night ghosts, nor by the beasts that crossed her path; but like a deer longing for fountains of water, she rushed and shone on a rocky road with bare feet, not accustomed to such harshness.
I'm going home.
And Eulalia came to the city at noon, and came by the gate of the city, and heard the voice of the heralds calling the people to shame, and she ran to the place of shame, which was in the midst of the city, and saw the holy eunuch, Dacian, sitting on the high place of judgment; and she broke through the people, and stood before the eunuch, and cried with a loud voice,
"You judge unjustly, sitting on a high throne, and you do not fear the Most High. Do you sit here to destroy innocent people, who were created in God's image and likeness to serve him, and to lead them to serve Satan and to kill those who do not obey you?"
"Who are you, that you dare to come before us without a call? You are speaking against us and against the king's decree". The saint answered with great boldness: "I, Eulalia, a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Why are you so foolish that you turn away from God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them, and worship the devils, even the likes of them, and force the servants of the true God to worship idols, which are not gods but demons, in various forms of torment.
And the king was wroth, and commanded that the naked maiden should be smitten upon the back with the staves of the oak.
O wretched virgin! where is thy God? he will not save thee from these stripes; and why art thou so mad, that thou hast dared to speak a matter that is not thine? confess now that thou hast done it in inexperience, not knowing how great is the power of judgment; then shalt thou be forgiven; for it grieveth me that thou, a young, beautiful, and noble virgin, shouldest be beaten so severely.
I am made a mockery of thee, because thou hast commanded me to lie, as though in ignorance I should dare to enter into the torment of my God, and as though I knew not the greatness of thy power.
I fear that my Lord will cast the liars and the wrongdoers into the fire of hell, and that my virginity will be beautified and my chastity will be increased if I suffer in the way of my Lord.
And when he heard these words of the martyr, he was very angry, and commanded to hang the saint upon a cross-shaped gallows of wood, and to bind her pure virgin body with iron scabbards, until all her skin should be taken off.
Lord Jesus Christ, hear me, thy unworthy servant, and forgive my sins, and strengthen me in the midst of the torments which I suffer for thy holy name's sake, that the devil may be ashamed with his servants. And Hegemon said unto her, Where is he to whom thou criedest?
And St. Eulalia answered him, Let there be no good to thee, O holy father, full of wickedness, full of devils: and I will not depart from my God, for he to whom I call is here; but thou seest him not, because of thy uncleanness, because thou art unworthy to see him: he strengtheneth me, and I know not the torments which thou dost dare to inflict upon me.
The martyr was overjoyed and exclaimed the words of the psalm: "Look! God is my helper; Jehovah is the one supporting my soul. He himself will repay my enemies. In your truth do you destroy them.
And it came to pass, as he prayed, that a flame of candles turned upon the servants, and burned their faces, so that they fell to the ground.
Lord Jesus Christ, hear my prayer, and grant me thy mercy, and make me one of thy elect, to rest in eternal life: "Show me a sign for good; let them that hate me see it, and be ashamed".
And when she had said these things, she gave up her spirit to her God, and a dove, white as snow, fell out of her mouth, and ran toward heaven. And all that saw marveled exceedingly; and the disciples rejoiced, because they also had received from their city a beggar to the Lord in heaven.
And when Egimon saw that the martyr was dead, he was greatly ashamed, and rose up from the judgment-seat in anger, and went into his house; and Egimon commanded that the body of the martyr should be left hanging on that torture-tree, and set watchmen, that no man might take the body of the martyr from thence; and Egimon said, Let her be hanged on the tree, until the birds eat her, and the bones of her be broken.
And it came to pass, when he was gone, and the body of the saint was still hanging in the tree, that suddenly snow came down from the cloud, and covered the fair body of the holy martyr as with a white garment; and the guards were afraid; and they drew back, and looked on from afar, and were afraid.
When they saw the dead saint lying crucified on a tree covered with snow, her parents wept bitterly and wept bitterly, but at the same time they rejoiced that their beloved daughter had received the crown of martyrdom and entered the heavenly Bridegroom's ranks.
They intended to take the body of Christ's martyr to themselves, but the guards were not allowed to him; looking at the sanctuary from a distance, they wept, but together they rejoiced in spirit.
On the third day, some pious men took the body of the holy martyr at night (the guards did not notice this) and wrapped it in a clean robe with perfumes in the presence of her parents, who washed the body of their dear daughter with tears.
When Felix had said these things, the virgin, who had been dead three days, smiled as if she were alive when she looked at him. Then all those present began to sing the words of the psalm: "They [the righteous] cried out, and Jehovah heard, and out of all their distresses he saved them". - Ps. 33:18.
And let the body of the holy martyr Eulalia be buried with honor, glorifying God the Father, and his only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, one God in the Trinity, whose kingdom is eternal and endless.