Saint Galina

On March 10th, the Orthodox church honors Saint martyr Galina. She was one of the victims of Emperor Trajan Decius in Corinth (today, Greece). She was a follower of St. martyr Kodra. Saint Kodra was a healer of physical or mental disabilities and had many students, one of whom was Galina. During the persecutions, st. Kodra along with his students were thrown in dungeon and were tortured in order to renounce their Christian faith. Kodra and five of his apprentices were executed for disobeying orders. The other students were killed later on. According to legends they were tossed into the sea where with God's aid they started walking on water, but were caught and drowned, by being tied to heavy rocks. Others say they were slayed altogether and where they were executed a spring flowed out, reminding Corinthians of the saints, who shed rivers of blood for their faith. On this day people with the names Galina, Gala, Galia, Galka, Galuna, Galin and similar to theirs celebrate namedays. Galina is a Bulgarian name, which means fondled, caressed, loved.