Saint Golindouch lived in Persia during the reign of King Khosrow I. She was of noble origin and she was raised in the worship of idols.
After three years of married life, she experienced the light of divine grace and began to seek the true God. One night she saw a vision in which the torment of sinners and the paradise of the righteous were revealed to her. Upon waking, she secretly went to a priest without her husband’s knowledge and got baptized, receiving the name Maria of Persia.
After her baptism, the saint renounced marital life and devoted herself to fasting and prayer. When her husband learned of her conversion, he tried to bring her back to paganism, but she remained steadfast. King Khosrow then ordered her arrest and torture. The saint remained imprisoned for eighteen full years.
When the new ruler permitted the practice of Christianity, all the faithful were released. Free from the fear of persecution and torture, the saint traveled to Jerusalem and became a nun. She preached the true faith everywhere, teaching prayer and love for God.
Praying, she surrendered her soul to the Lord while traveling to Constantinople, at the suggestion of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, in order to offer spiritual help to the rulers there.
Her memory is commemorated on July 13.
