St. Eupraxia, Princess of Pskov

Commemorated on October 16

St. Eupraxia, Princess of Pskov, was the daughter of Prince Rogvolod Borisovich and the wife of Prince Yaroslav Vladimirovich. Prince Yaroslav fled from Pskov to Livonia and married a German. After her husband left her, Eupraxia turned to deeds of piety. In 1243, she built a monastery on the banks of the River Velika named for St. John the Forerunner and became its abbess.

Invited to Livonia for a meeting with her former husband, she was murdered by the son of Yaroslav and his German wife. She was buried at the cathedral of the monastery she founded. Ten days after the death of St. Eupraxia, a miracle occurred over her grave when myrrh issued from an icon of the Savior. The icon came to be known as “The Myrrh-Bearing Savior.”

By permission of the Orthodox Church in America (www.oca.org)