Rais, Martyr

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Rais, Martyr
Born	Third century A.D., Tabne, Kemet
Died	303 A.D., Tamman or Antinopolis
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox Church
Feast	September 23
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Rais, also known as Iraida, Irais, Herais or Rhais,^[1] is a martyr venerated by the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches.

According to one account, she was the daughter of a Christian priest living in Alexandria, Egypt. At age twelve, she was sent to live in a women's monastery at Tamman. One day in 303 A.D., during a time of wide persecution of Christians during the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian, she went to a well to draw water with other nuns. On the way, they saw a ship with a group of nuns, monks, and other Christians in chains, being abused by Loukianos. Rais berated the abusers and insisted that they kill her as well if they were killing Christians. They imprisoned her as well. When the ship reached Antinopolis, Rais was one of the first to die. When Loukianos yelled, "I spit upon the Christian God," Rais objected, stepped up and spat in the tyrant's face. Loukianos ordered the girl to be tortured and beheaded.^[2]

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