I have recognized once again the relics of this saint, and I saw a considerable city situated in a mountainous region (Caesarea in Cappadocia). There I saw, inside the garden of a Roman-style house, three little girls aged five to eight who were playing. They were holding hands, dancing in a circle, stopping, and singing while picking flowers from the garden. After they had been playing like this for a while, I saw the two older ones separate from the youngest, taking with them the flowers they had plucked in their hands. It seemed to me that the youngest girl was very distressed to see the two walking away to another part of the garden. She felt a great sorrow that I myself shared with her. Her face turned pale, and at the same time, her clothes became white as snow. The child fell to the ground as if she had fainted. Meanwhile, I heard a voice saying: “This is Dorothea.”
Then a luminous young man appeared, approaching her with a bouquet of flowers in his hands. The young man lifted the child up, carried her to another part of the garden, placed the bouquet beside her, and disappeared. The child became joyful once again and, running toward the other two, showed them her flowers and told them who had given them to her.
They marveled greatly, embraced the girl, and seemed repentant for having offended her by leaving her alone. The bond between them was restored. At this sight, I too felt the desire to have such flowers to restore myself, when suddenly Dorothea appeared to me as a virgin. She exhorted me to receive Communion and said to me: “Why do you desire those flowers so much when you so often receive the flower of all flowers?”
She explained to me the symbolic picture of the three girls, which referred to the fall and conversion of the two older ones. Afterwards, I saw a picture of her martyrdom. She was inside the prison with the two older ones, and a disagreement arose among them. The other two did not want to die for Jesus and were set free. I saw Dorothea brought before the judge, who had her taken before the two who had fallen, in the hope that Dorothea would follow her sisters' example and exhortations. But Dorothea, instead, managed to lead them back to the faith. She was then tied with her limbs extended against a pillar, torn with iron claws, burned with torches, and finally beheaded. After this, I saw a young man who had mocked her on her way to martyrdom—and to whom she had replied briefly—suddenly convert and become a Christian. He saw a luminous young man carrying roses and flowers, came to his senses, confessed his Christian faith, and suffered martyrdom: he was beheaded. Along with Dorothea, many Christians were martyred—burned, or torn apart by animals to which they had been tied.
() What has been said about this Saint agrees with history. The same is narrated by the holy Bishop Aldhelm (709) in his book “In Praise of Virginity.” Devotion to this saint is widespread in the East.*