5th century
Saint Elizabeth the Wonderworker
Nun from Heraclea in Thrace who became abbess of the monastery of Saint George in Constantinople in the 5th century and is honoured for the healings attributed to her by tradition.
Biography
Elizabeth was born in Heraclea in Thrace in the 5th century, into a devout family that, according to tradition, had her after years of prayer to Saint Glykeria. Orphaned at fifteen, she gave away her fortune to the poor and freed her household's slaves before leaving for Constantinople.
There she became a nun at the monastery of Saint George, and when the abbess died, Patriarch Gennadius I appointed her as successor. Healings and visions are attributed to her, including an appearance of the Virgin Mary shortly before her death; she was buried at the church of Saint George, where, according to tradition, her relics remained incorrupt.