(ABOUT A.D. 303.)
[This Saint, so famous in Western Martyrologies, is unknown to the
Greeks. Her Acts are not to be relied upon.]
This holy martyr was a native of Cæsarea in Cappadocia, and in the
persecution of Dioclesian she was brought before the governor
Sapricius. After the usual interogatories she was stretched on the
_catasta_, an iron bed over a slow fire. Then as laid thereon, the
servant of God exclaimed, "Do thy worst, I fear not pain, if only I
may see Him, for whose love I am ready to die." Sapricius said, "Who
is he whom thou lovest?" Dorothy answered, "Christ, the Son of God."
Sapricius asked, "And where is this Christ?" Dorothy replied, "In His
omnipotence He is everywhere; in His humanity he is in Heaven, the
Paradise to which He invites us: where the woods are ever adorned with
fruit, and lilies ever bloom white, and roses ever flower; where the
fields are green, the mountains wave with fresh grass, and the springs
bubble up eternally."
[Illustration: S. AGNES. S. CECILIA. S. DOROTHY.
After Angelica de Fiesole. Feb. 6.]
Then said a lawyer present, named Theophilus, "Thou spouse of Christ,
send me from Paradise some of these apples and roses." And Dorothy
answered him, "I will."
Now the governor pronounced sentence against her, that she should lose
her head. And as she knelt, and the executioner prepared to smite, she
asked him to delay the stroke for a moment. Then she prayed, and
suddenly there stood by her a beauteous youth, in dazzling raiment,
who held in his hands three apples, and three red roses, the like of
which earthly garden had never produced. Then Dorothy said, "I pray
thee take these to Theophilus, and tell him that they are what I
promised him." And at that instant the sword of the executioner fell,
and she entered into the joy of her Lord.
Now Theophilus, the advocate, was at home with his companions; and to
them he told with great laughter how he had asked the virgin to send
him the flowers and fruit of the Paradise to which she hoped to enter.
And, all at once, as he spake, the angel stood before him, with grave
face, and held out to him the wondrous apples and roses, and said,
"Dorothy sends these to thee, as she promised." Then Theophilus
believed, and going before the governor, he confessed Christ, and was
sentenced to death; and so died, receiving the baptism of blood.
Relics at Arles; where March 28th is observed as the feast of their
translation; also at Cologne, in the churches of S. Gereon, S.
Severinus, S. Andrew, S. Paul, SS. John and Cordula, &c.; the head at
Prague.
In Art, S. Dorothea is easily recognized by the sword she holds, and
the apples and roses at her side, or in her hand.