Venerable Paphnutius and His Daughter Euphrosyne (V)

The Venerable Paphnutius and his daughter Euphrosyne were Alexandrians. Euphrosyne was eighteen when she left her parental home and settled in a men’s monastery under the name of the eunuch Smaragdus. The hegumen did not recognise the maiden under the men’s clothing and gave her a secluded cell, where the holy ascetic fought courageously against the evil spirits, repelled their temptations with good sense and abstinence, subdued the passions, and advanced in the virtues. The blessed maiden’s father, Paphnutius, often came to the superior of the monastery where Euphrosyne was labouring, and, grieving over the loss of his daughter, found comfort with him. More than once the hegumen saw Paphnutius talking with “the monk” Smaragdus, who was distinguished by tireless vigils and toil. The father did not recognise his own child in the monk with the changed face and the cowl pulled down over the forehead. Euphrosyne spent thirty-eight years in the monastery and, having risen to spiritual perfection, committed her soul to the Lord in peace. Before her death she revealed her secret to her father. After this Paphnutius gave away all his property as alms, settled in his daughter’s cell, and laboured there for twenty (according to some, twenty-eight) years.