EUFROSINA THE YOUNGER, Saint
Virgin ascetic, born in the Peloponnese ca. 854, died at the age of 60, apparently in 923. Educated in Calabria, she went as a very young woman to Constantinople to her relative Aglasso, who wished to marry her to a nobleman. She fled (878) in men’s clothing, changing her name to John, and lived for years in a monastery until she was appointed its hegumen. Forced to flee again, she led a solitary life in the desert serving an elderly saint. Discovered, however, by a relative, she returned to Constantinople (ca. 903) no longer disguised, but continued her solitary life in the women’s monastery of the Madonna del Ponte (ἔρως Ἐρμηνίας), always esteemed and visited by the imperial family.
Nicephorus Callistus wrote her life, probably based on an older account whose sources are unknown. Since it partly depends on the commonplaces of Eastern hagiography, it is difficult to distinguish authentic facts from legend.