Saint Matrona, as a poor girl, was a servant in the house of a Jew in Thessalonica, whose wife was named Pautila. This mistress of hers often mocked Matrona for her faith in Christ, abused her a lot, and often beat her, forcing her to accept the Jewish faith. But Matrona endured all this meekly for the sake of Christ, and secretly went to church. Once Pautila found out that Matrona was secretly going to church from her, so she asked her in anger: Why did you not go to the synagogue but to the Christian church? To this the blessed Matrona boldly answered her: Because God lives in the Christian Church, and He has departed from the Jewish synagogue. That is the reason why I do not go to the synagogue but to the church.

Furious at such an answer, the Jewess beat her mercilessly and locked her in a dark room, where she was also tied up. But the next day she found her untied by the power of God, kneeling in prayer and praising God. And again the lady beat her to death with raw irons, then tied her up even more tightly, and again locked her in the room, and sealed the door, so that no one could enter her and find her in trouble. And the saint remained in that prison for four days without food or drink, strengthened by God. Then Pautila removed the seals from the door, and when she opened them, she again saw Matrona untied, standing in prayer. This made her terribly angry, and she beat the blessed one violently with thick rods, and barely alive she locked her up again, where the saint died, giving up her spirit to God. Then the wicked woman took the body of the holy maiden and threw it from the height of her house to the ground. The Christians took the much-suffered body of the holy martyr Matrona and buried her honorably.

Then Bishop Alexander of Thessalonica, learning of the many miracles performed by the holy martyr, built a church in her name and placed her honorable relics in it. And the wicked tormentor Pautila soon met with God's just punishment: from the same place on the house from which she threw down Matrona's body, she slipped, fell on the cobblestones and broke into pieces as if dead. And thus she committed evil on her poor soul. Saint Matrona suffered in the third or fourth century.

Venerable John the Seer. Easter Fast.