Olympias, a pious, charitable, and wealthy disciple of St. John Chrysostom was born into a noble family in Constantinople. Being orphaned as a child, she was placed in the care of Theodosia by her uncle, the prefect Procopius.
In either 384 or 385 she married Nebridius, Prefect of Constantinople and was widowed soon after. She refused several offers of marriage, and had her fortune put in trust until she was thirty by Emperor Theodosius.
When he restored her estate in 391, she was consecrated as a deaconess and with several other ladies founded a community. She built beside the principal church of Constantinople a convent, into which three relatives and many maidens joined her to consecrate themselves to the service of God.
When St. John Chrysostom became Bishop of Constantinople in 398, he acted as spiritual guide of Olympias and her companions, and, as many undeserving approached the kind-hearted deaconess for support, he advised her as to the proper manner of utilizing her vast fortune in the service of the poor. She established a hospital and an orphanage, gave shelter to the expelled monks of Nitria. She remained a faithful disciple and a firm supporter of Chrysostom when he was expelled in 404 from Constantinople. Chrysostom encouraged and guided her through his letters, of which seventeen are in existence.
She was fined by the prefect, Optatus, for refusing to accept Arsacius, the unlawfully appointed successor of Chrysostom. She spent the last years of her life troubled by illness and persecution. She died in exile in Nicomedia on July 25, less than a year after the death of Chrysostom.
During the riot of Constantinople in 532, the convent of St. Olympias and the adjacent church were destroyed. Emperor Justinian had it rebuilt, and the prioress, Sergia, transferred there the remains of the foundress from the ruined church of St. Thomas in Brokhthes, where she had been buried.
Other Saints of the Day
1. Saint John of Matha
2. Saint Josep Manyanet y Vives
3. Saint Sturmi of Fulda
4. Saint Modestus of Jerusalem
5. Saint Judicael
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