Menodora, Metrodora, and Nymphodora were three virgin sisters from Bithynia in Asia Minor who were put to death for their Christian faith during the persecutions of the early fourth century, traditionally dated to the reign of Diocletian and his co-emperors (305–311). They are commemorated together on September 10.
According to the synaxarion tradition, the sisters wished to preserve their virginity and to withdraw from worldly society. They settled in a solitary place in the wilderness of Bithynia and devoted themselves to fasting and prayer. Their reputation spread because, by tradition, healings of the sick occurred through their prayers.
Their renown brought them to the attention of Frontonus, the governor of Bithynia, who ordered them arrested and brought before him. He first attempted to persuade them to renounce Christ with promises of honors and rewards, but they confessed their faith and refused. The three were then tortured to death in turn. When the governor ordered their bodies burned, the tradition relates that a heavy rain extinguished the fire and that lightning struck down Frontonus and his servant. Christians recovered the bodies and buried them at the warm springs of Pythia in Bithynia.
