Saint Alla

Alla of the Goths (died c. 375) is venerated as a martyr of the Christian Church in Orthodoxy. The feast day of Saint Alla of the Goths is celebrated on March 26 (April 8) according to the Julian calendar. Saint Alla was one of 26 martyrs killed by the Goths around 375 during the reign of Athanaric, a persecutor of Christians. Ancient synaxaria of the Gothic Church mention the martyrdom of 26 Christians during the reigns of Emperors Valentinian, Valens, and Gratian. The historian Sozomen, author of the Ecclesiastical History, wrote that King Athanaric was enraged that his subjects were converting to Christianity in large numbers under the influence of the sermons of the Arian bishop Ulfilas. By his order, many were tortured and executed, often without trial. Athanaric set up a statue on a chariot and drove it before the tents of Christians used for church services. Those who agreed to bow to the idols and offer sacrifices were spared. The others were burned alive inside the church during worship. 308 people perished in the fiery inferno, of whom only 26 are known by name, including Saint Alla. During the reigns of Emperors Valentinian (383–392) and Theodosius (378–395), Gaatha, the widow of a Gothic king (who was an Orthodox Christian), and her daughter Duclida collected the relics of the holy martyrs, including Alla, and transported them to Syria. Gaatha later returned to her homeland, where she was stoned to death and suffered martyrdom along with her son Agathon. Later, Duclida moved the relics of the holy martyrs to the city of Cyzicus in Asia Minor and donated them to newly built churches. The Gothic calendar commemorated Saint Alla on October 23. In the additions to the Menologion of Saint Demetrius of Rostov, apparently made in the 19th century, Saint Alla was not among those burned; instead, she was the one who collected the relics in place of Gaatha and was stoned to death.