In large part, for this reason, little Euphrasia began to feel more and more attracted to religious life and, when her mother died, she begged the nuns to allow her to stay with them in the monastery, taking on the habits of a novice. age 8 years.
When he turned twelve, Emperor Arcadius wanted to enforce the promise that his father and predecessor, Theodosius I, had made, so he sent a message to the monastery where Euphrasia was, asking her to return and marry the senator to whom she was promised. .
The saint refused to leave the convent and wrote a letter to the emperor begging to be set free, in exchange for selling all the property inherited from her parents and freeing all the slaves in her house. Euphrasia asked the emperor to distribute the proceeds among the poor. Finally, despite opposing her parting with her inheritance, the emperor acceded to Euphrasia’s wishes.