Christina of Persia
Christina, born Yazdoi (fl. 6th century), was a Sasanian Persian noblewoman and Christian venerated after her death as a virgin martyr.
Christina was from Karka d'Beth Slokh in the region of Beth Garmai. Her father, Yazdin, son of Mihrzbiroi, was the governor of Nisibis. She converted from Zoroastrianism to the Church of the East. She was killed for refusing to consummate her marriage to a nobleman and was venerated as a virgin martyr. According to a Greek martyrology, she was beaten to death with rods. The exact date of her death is unknown, but it was probably during the reign of Khosrau I (531–579).
Not long after her death, Babai the Great (died 628) wrote her biography and martyrdom act in Syriac. Today only the preface survives. Since Babai lists all the hagiographical works he had written up to that point in his biography of George of Izla (martyred 615), he must have written Christina's biography after that date. According to Babai, she was called Yazdoi "when she was pagan", but "in her new birth of adoption as a token of life, chose to be called Christina, a name that shall not pass".
In the Martyrology
- March 13 Saint Christina, martyr