Commemorated April 9
Saint Ia (Violet) was an elderly Christian woman who lived in the fortress of Bet-Zabde (or Phenak) on the right bank of the Tigris at the frontier of the Roman and Persian Empires. King Shapur II of Persia (309-379), after several attempts to capture this fortress, took it in 362. He razed its walls, put to death many of the garrison and made captive about 9,000 Christians, including the holy Bishop Heliodoros as well as priests, deacons, ascetics and pious Christians.
