Venerable Apollinaris Syncletica

Apollinaris Syncletica (Medieval Greek: Απολινάριος Συγκλητική), also known as Apollinaria of Egypt, was a saint and hermit of the 5th century, venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church. Her story is most likely apocryphal and "turns on the familiar theme of a girl putting on male attire and living for many years undiscovered". The legend of Apollinaris Syncletica was likely based on those of Syncletica of Alexandria and Theodora of Alexandria, two of the Desert Mothers. Although Apollinaris Syncletica was listed as a saint in the Roman Martyrology, her story, set in late antiquity, is most likely apocryphal, and has been called "a pious fiction", "so much like a romance", and "a religious romance". Her namesake Syncletica of Alexandria is the subject of the Vita S. Syncleticæ, a Greek hagiography purportedly by Athanasius of Alexandria (d. 373) but not in fact written before 450. She then appears as amma Syncletica, an anchorite whose sayings are included in the Apophthegmata Patrum, compiled c.480–500. The legend of Theodora of Alexandria, like that of Apollinaris Syncletica, involves a holy woman and ascetic living as a male monk. The 10th century Byzantine hagiographer Symeon the Metaphrast stated that Apollinaris was the daughter of the emperor Anthemius, but it is more likely that her father was a consular prefect in Constantinople. It is probable that both the hagiographic association with the emperor of the Western Empire and her connection with Macarius of Alexandria (d. 390) were added to her story to enhance her spiritual authority. According to the tale, Apollinaris' parents wanted her to marry a wealthy man at a young age, but she refused and persuaded them into allowing her to remain unmarried. She wanted to "retire completely from the world", like the Egyptian recluses she admired.