(Fourth century)
Feast day: September 30
According to an unreliable legend, Rhipsime was part of a group of virgins who fled the Roman persecution and eventually settled in Armenia. She was known for her beauty and the Emperor Diocletian desired her, but she refused his advances. Her reputation as a beautiful woman followed her and when the emperor got word of where she had settled, he was furious and wrote to King Tiridates. When she refused the advances of the king as well, he ordered troops to go to her community and execute them. Rhipsime, along with 35 of her companions, was killed. Only one member of her community escaped, a woman named Christiana, who became a missionary in Georgia. Rhipsime’s cult is an ancient one in Armenia.
