St. Dorothy

 

 

THE STORY OF ST. DOROTHY

St. Dorothy was a young, beautiful girl, who lived in the city of Caesarea, in Cappadocia, in Asia Minor.  Theophilus, a rich and handsome young pagan, fell in love with Dorothy and wished to marry her, but she refused, saying, "Theophilus, I cannot marry you, because you are a pagan.  If you will first learn about Jesus Christ and become a Christian, then I will marry you, if it is God's Holy will." 

         

This angered Theophilus very much and he thought, "I will get back at Dorothy for not wanting to marry me.  I will tell Fabritius, the Governor of Caesarea that she will not marry me or sacrifice to the idols, because she is a Christian!"

 

Before long, The Governor's guards were at Dorothy's house.  They seized her and almost dragged her, so rude were they, and they threw her into a dirty old dungeon.  One guard said, "Stay here and suffer for a while.  Tomorrow you will stand before the Governor – maybe you will change your mind by then?  Ha! Ha! Ha!" and he laughed his way out the door.

 

Poor Dorothy sat there on the dungeon floor.  A rat scurried across the floor and she jumped, as it brushed by her foot.  Then she knelt and prayed, "My Jesus, my beloved, I put all my hopes and trust in Thee.  Please help me to be faithful to martyrdom, if such be they Holy Will, and please dear Holy Ghost, enlighten me as to what I must say when I stand before the Governor."

 

The next day, Dorothy was brought before the Governor, and he asked her, "Who are you?"

To this the young girl replied, "I am Dorothy, a virgin and a servant of Jesus Christ."

"You must serve our gods or die," cried Fabritius.

 

Dorothy answered meekly, "Be it so; then the sooner I shall stand in the presence of Him, whom I most desire to behold."

 

"What do you mean?" questioned the Governor.

 

She replied, "I mean the Son of God, Jesus Christ, my spouse!  His dwelling is in Paradise.  By His side are eternal joys, and in His garden grow celestial fruits and roses that never fade!"

 

Fabritius was much surprised at Dorothy's answer and instead of killing her; he had her taken back to the dungeon.  Then, in order to make her give up her Catholic Faith, he sent her two women, named, Calista and Christeta, who were sisters, and who had once been Christians, but who had given up the Catholic Faith.  They had been threatened with terrible torments and were afraid, and that is why they had given up their Catholic Faith.  But they should not have done so – they should have trusted in Jesus who would give them strength to bear all their trials and pains.  The Governor had promised them a large reward if they would persuade Dorothy to deny her Catholic Faith, as they had done. 

 

The two sisters boldly entered the dungeon where Dorothy was, and Calista said, "Dorothy, you really don't believe all that Catholic foolishness, do you?  Come now, be an intelligent girl and follow us, and all will be fine!"

 

Then Dorothy retorted, "You mean – follow you to Hell!"

 

"There's no such place as Hell – it's only a story to scare people!" put in Christeta.

 

Dorothy prayed.  She knew that she would need the help of Jesus and Mary to convert these two women.  As she talked, she found out that these two women were Catholics at one time.  So Dorothy encouraged them, "Do you think that I would not do the same as you if I did not trust in Jesus?   God is so powerful.  It is for reasons so weak that you have both given up the Catholic Faith.  But come now, if you pray with me, I believe that Jesus will grant you the gift of Faith again, and then you can go to Heaven too."

 

Calista and Christeta resisted and argued at first, but Dorothy was kind and patient and she asked the Guardian Angels of the two women to help them come back to the Faith.  Before long, the two women were weeping and begging God to forgive them for leaving the Faith.  They realized what a terrible mistake they had made and cried, "O blessed Dorothy, pray for us that our cowardly sin may be forgiven by God and that He will accept our penance."

 

"That, I will most certainly do!"  Dorothy answered. "And be sure that my prayers are with you, so that you may go straight to Heaven!"

 

Then the two sisters left the dungeon and cried, "We are Christians!  We belong to Jesus Christ the true God, and we will follow Him to our death!"

 

The Governor was furious!  "Calista and Christeta – you dare to go against me and the gods," he screamed.  "For this you will burn.  I command you guards to burn these two women and I also command you to bring Dorothy, to watch them burn – maybe then, she will change her mind!"

 

Dorothy was dragged out of the dungeon and thrown before Fabritius.  "Do you see what will become of you?  I will burn you like these two women."

 

Dorothy could see the fire burning the women and the smoke going up their noses, "O my friends, fear not!  Suffer bravely to the end!  These short pains will be followed by eternal joys!  Heaven will soon be yours!"  Thus encouraged, the women died and Dorothy was sentenced, "You will be cruelly tortured and then have your head chopped off!" the Governor cried.

 

Now Theophilus had been standing in the courtroom while the Governor had been questioning Dorothy.  And when Theophilus saw Dorothy being lead to the torture chamber; he sneered, "Ha, fair maiden!  So now you're going to meet Jesus, your bridegroom!  Send me some of the apples and roses from His garden!"

 

"I will send you the apples and roses and I will wait for you in the garden from which they came," Dorothy said, and before long she was beheaded.  Then after her death, an angel appeared with a basket in which were three apples and three roses.  Theophilus ate the apples and was converted.  Then he too, died as a martyr, and went to meet St. Dorothy in the Heavenly garden.

 

 

Another take:

 

Saint Dorothy was a young virgin celebrated already in Caesarea of Cappadocia, where she lived, for her angelic virtue. Her parents are believed to have been martyred before her in the Diocletian persecution; thus, when the Governor Sapricius came to Caesarea and called her to appear before him, he sent this child of martyrs to the eternal home where they were waiting for her.

She explained that the God she adored was majestic — above all emperors, who were mortal, and their gods, none of whom created either heaven or earth. She was stretched upon the rack, and offered honors if she would consent to sacrifice, or death if she refused. And they waited. She asked why they delayed to torture her; they were expecting she might cede out of fright. She said to them, Do what you have to do, that I may see the One for whose love I fear neither death nor torments, Jesus Christ. She was asked, Where is this Christ? and she replied: As Almighty He is everywhere, but for weak human reason we say that the Son of God has ascended into heaven, to be seated at the right hand of the Almighty Father. It is He who invites us to the garden of His delights, where at all times the trees are covered with fruits, the lilies are perpetually white, the roses ever in their freshness. If you believe me, you too will search for the true liberty, and will labor to earn entry into the garden of God's delights. She was then placed in the custody of two women who had fallen away from the faith, in the hope that they might pervert her; but the fire of her own heart rekindled the flame in theirs, and led them back to Christ.

When she was set once more on the rack, Sapricius himself was amazed at the heavenly expression on her face, and asked her the cause of her joy. Because, she said, I have brought back two souls to Christ, and because I shall soon be in heaven rejoicing with the Angels. Her joy grew as she was buffeted in the face and her sides were burned with plates of red-hot iron. Blessed art Thou, she cried, when she was sentenced to be beheaded, Blessed art Thou, O Lover of souls, who call me to paradise, and invite me to Thy nuptial chamber!

Saint Dorothy suffered in mid-winter, and on the road to her execution a lawyer called Theophilus, who had grown accustomed to calumniating and persecuting the Christians, asked her, in mockery, to send him apples or roses from the garden of her Spouse. The Saint promised to grant his request. Just before she died, a little child stood by her side bearing three apples and three roses. She told him to take them to Theophilus, and to tell him it was the present he sought from the garden of her Spouse. Saint Dorothy had gone to heaven, and Theophilus was still making merry over his challenge to her, when the child entered his room. He recognized that the fruit and flowers were of no earthly growth, and that the child was an Angel in disguise. He was converted to the faith, and then shared in the martyrdom of Saint Dorothy.

Reflection. Do you wish to be safe amid the pleasures and happy despite the troubles of this world? Pray for heavenly desires, and say with the Saints, Paradise, paradise!

 

Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives of the Saints and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894); Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 2