St. Euphrasia was born of a saintly and noble parents. Her father died when she was only five years old. Her mother, who is also named St. Euphrasia, took her to Egypt. There they lived in a large house near a convent of good and holy nuns.
Euphrasia begged her mother to let her serve God in the convent in which the holy nuns lived. Her good mother cried with joy. Soon afterwards, she took the child to the convent and put her in the care of the Abbess. The Abbess asked Euphrasia if she would be able to leave behind all her riches and comforts. She asked the girl is she thought she could live a life of sacrifice for Jesus. The young girl answered right away that she would be happy to do anything, as long as she could stay in the house of God. So the Abbess accepted her.
When her mother died, the Emperor reminded Euphrasia that her parents had promised her in marriage to a rich young senator. Of course Euphrasia wanted to belong to no one but Jesus. So she wrote a respectful letter to the Emperor. In it she said: “I belong to Jesus, and I cannot give myself to anyone else. My only desire is that the world should forget about me completely. I humbly beg Your Majesty to take all the riches my parents left me and give them to the poor. I ask Your Majesty to free all the slaves of my family and to cancel all the debts people own me.”
The Emperor thought her letter was so beautiful that he read it out loud to all the senators. Then he did everything she had asked.
For her generosity, God showered Euphrasia with special favors and graces. On her part, she thought only of becoming a saint. And she succeeded. The devil tempted her very much, especially with temptations of impurity, but Euphrasia prayed harder than ever. She made even more sacrifices than usual. That is why she was always victorious over the devil. She grew holier every day until God called her home to Heaven.
It is all right to be happy with the nice clothes and many good things we have. But we should never forget that all these things are nothing compared to what we shall have in Heaven-if we live as Jesus wants us to live.
