Olympias, a daughter of the wealthy Count Seleusus, was born near Constantinople in 368. Apparently her parents died when she was still quite young, but they left her a substantial fortune. This drew the attention of many matchmakers, including the Emperor Theodosius, who wanted to be sure that such a large amount of wealth--and the influence that went with it--came to rest in the proper hands.

So while still in her teens, Olympias married an official in the imperial court named Nebridius. But he died less than two years later. The stream of eager suitors resumed, but she chose to not remarry--having decided, as a Christian, that she would devote herself to the Lord and her inheritance to helping the poor.

This decision aggravated Theodosius, who used his royal privilege to seize her fortune and place it in trust until she turned 30. Olympias wrote to thank the emperor for relieving her of the burden of all that money, and insisted that, as executor of the inheritance, he divide it between the church in Constantinople and the poor. Outfoxed by the plucky teenager, Theodosius restored the wealth to her prerogative and she immediately began to give the money away again, to the sick, widows, prisoners, beggars, and slaves (she even bought hundreds of slaves and set them free).

She became a deaconess of the church at Constantinople, and a good friend of John Chrysostom, the local bishop, who once advised her to give less to the poor because she was making them lazy. Her loyalty to Chrysostom eventually cost her much. He, a gifted preacher, spoke out against the wanton behavior of the Empress Eudoxia. Incensed at his impertinence, the empress pulled strings in the church hierarchy and, in 403, got John banished for life on trumped-up charges. Olympias and many other Christians in Constantinople protested this treatment of their beloved bishop, and hence were physically harassed. Then, when Olympias refused to recognize the new bishop who was appointed, she was banished as well. She was also tried for disrupting the church, and was heavily fined. Later, all her assets were seized and her charitable projects shut down.

Throughout all these troubles, Olympias and Chrysostom managed to maintain a correspondence. In his letters John encouraged her, praising her patience and dignity. He died in 407; within a year she also died, a pauper. But she was remembered as a devoted Christian who used her great wealth unselfishly for the Lord, as a regular student of the Bible, and as a faithful deaconess of the church.