Saint Demetrios the Neomartyr

(April 14th)

On this day we celebrate the Memory of Apostles Aristarchos, Pudens and Trophymos of the Seventy; Martyr Thomais of Alexandria; New–martyr Demetrios of the Peloponnesos.

The rugged Peloponnesos Mountains, with a terrain barren for human sustenance, has been occupied for centuries by Greeks even more rugged than their surroundings. The paucity of arable soil allowed for a scant population, most of whom lived in tiny villages such as Ligoudista, Arkadia, the home of Demetrios the Neomartyr. The uninviting terrain discouraged the less hardy from settlement in this area, but because of the proximity of Demetrios' village to the city of Tripolis, the conquering Turks had by the early nineteenth century firmly controlled the area, choosing not to pursue the Greeks who took to the remote regions of the mountains.

Demetrios grew up in the village where more than three centuries of Turkish domination had developed a society divided in religion but forced to live together for the common good in an atmosphere that was a scant quarter–century away from revolution in the childhood days of a man who was to become a martyr for Christ, not out of circumstance but out of choice. He was another of the uninitiated and untrained who were mediocrities until called upon to show their devotion to Jesus Christ.

Apprenticed to a Turkish contractor, Demetrios was still a teenager toiling for a meager subsistence when he came to a fork in the road of his life, at which point he made an unfortunate choice. Born and bred a Christian, the naive youth was beguiled by his Muslim employer into a disavowal of Christ with the assurance that his conversion to Islam was his only hope for the good life reserved only for those whose ranks he joined. Thus brainwashed, the lad remained in good stead with the ruling class, satisfied to be a Muslim so long as he really meant to offend no one. He even accepted the name of Mehmet as a token of his good intentions.

Demetrios was not long in finding out that the road to hell was paved with good intentions. Screened from his Christian friends he was one day reached by his overwrought father who managed to draw the boy away from the miasma that clouded his thinking and was drawn into the clear sunlight of Christianity once again. His several months of spiritual captivity ended with a loving fathers' care which once again unleashed the erring son's true feeling. He reached out for Jesus Christ in supplication and prayer for forgiveness, after which he went in contrition. Turning his back on Tripolis, he made his way to Smyrna, from where he boarded a ship bound for the island of Chios where he hoped to show his sincere repentance and once again bask in the glory of Christianity.

At Chios he was admitted to a monastery in which he was determined to cleanse himself of his shameful act, thereafter to serve the Savior with all his heart. His confessions were heard by sympathetic monks who were deeply moved by the young man's profound remorse which convinced them he was qualified to remain among them, eventually to be tonsured a monk after the proper period of training. Demetrios was convinced that he could find forgiveness after hearing the abbot tell him of Peter's denial of Christ, after which Peter repented and became the sainted man who preached to the end of his days for the Savior.

The days at the monastery were filled with earnest prayer and devotion by Demetrios who bore himself in a manner of the highest ascetic traditions, but he was troubled by an unfulfilled wish to commit an act which would completely expiate his long forgiven act. He felt that the only way to achieve complete satisfaction was to return to the scene of his wrong doings and there to reassert his belief in Christ before those who had taken advantage of his foolish innocence. The abbot tried to dispel this notion by citing the decision of David to preach the word of God for all his days rather than sacrifice himself in an untimely death.

Demetrios knew in his heart he could not rest unless he faced the Turks of Tripolis. He returned to openly avow his devotion to Jesus and for this he was executed. The remains of this brave lad who willingly gave his life for Christ on April 14 lie in the Church of Saint Demetrios in Tripolis, Greece.

Saint Myron of Crete

(March 20)

On this day we celebrate the Memory of Venerable–confessor James the new, bishop of Catania; Thomas, patriarch of Constantinople; New–martyr Michael.

In the fateful year of 1775, when America was about to assume an identity of its own, the ancient land of Greece was several years away from its return to normalcy after more than three centuries of Turkish tyranny had failed to separate Greece from an identity with its ancient glory and its hallowed Orthodox faith in Jesus Christ. Events leading to revolution are marked by the deaths of men who were complete patriots, but because of the religious overtones in the Greek cause men died not only for country but for Jesus Christ, as a result of which out of the many patriots have come saints of the Church.

It was in the year 1775 that the Neomartyr Myron was born in Crete and shared the misery of the rest of the islanders under the brutal conquest of the Turks, who seemed to have a special contempt for those living off the mainland. The remoteness of the island attracted the worst of the enemies of Christianity and democracy, bringing much more cruelty and religious persecution than could be found in the major cities under the best of a bad lot. Crete over the centuries had witnessed fleets of various countries spilling conquerors on its shores, but as inured as they were to hardships, the islanders felt the Turkish infestation more keenly than most realize.

Myron was born into a family who bore up under the oppression with no detectable loss of their Christian spirit and managed to compromise their political differences with the Turks without sacrificing one bit of religion. Myron's family was an extremely devout group to begin with and their misfortune served only to rally them closer to Jesus Christ and to one another. Myron himself was an exceptionally devout Christian whose fervor stemmed from genuine love for his church and for Jesus Christ. He served as cantor in his church and assisted the priest in this harassed village, giving his free time willingly to relieve suffering.

Myron applied his trade meanwhile as a tailor, operating a small shop in the business district where he was constantly under the watchful eyes of the Turks, who detested his good looks and his very obvious Christian faith. A man of peace who posed no threat to the authorities, he was nevertheless, singled out by the vengeful Turks as a target for their special brand of harassment by which they sought to demonstrate the power of Islam over Christianity not with reason but with the only weapon afforded them—brute force, coupled with guile.

Myron found himself being systematically heckled, badgered, and abused with insults, aimed at arousing his temper to the point of striking back, but he maintained his outward calm, mindful of the consequences if he did otherwise. When their taunts failed to bring a response, the Turks then produced a twelve–year–old Turkish boy whom they bribed to accuse the peaceful tailor of having made improper advances. Formally charging him with depravity, the innocent Christian was jailed to await trial.

In what passed for a trial, Myron protested his guilt to no avail, but in a gesture of what laughingly was called good will, the court offered to forgive him his lecherous behavior to come over to the side of Muslim decency. There was no mercy offered in the alternative, a prospect which might have weakened a lesser Christian than Myron who vigorously defended his faith in Jesus Christ for whom he was willing to die.

The court found him guilty, as expected, but unexpectedly sentenced him to be hanged the following day, rather than subject him to torture before finally executing him. The reasoning was that the sight of a limp body at the end of a rope in the town square would be enough to frighten the Christians into a more compliant frame of mind. On the day after the trial, Myron was led to the square and after refusing a last chance to recant was hanged. The remorseful twelve–year–old who had falsely condemned him came forward to admit his treachery but not until it was too late.

Myron was only twenty years old when he gave his life for the Savior but a manifestation that he was in God's favor brought him instant recognition after death. Hundreds stood in awe as they witnessed a ray of light descend from the sky onto the inert form of Myron, who was made a saint only a few months after he died.

Saint Zorzis (George) of Mytilene

(January 2)

On this day we celebrate the Memory of Name of Saint Zorzis (George) of Mytilene the Neomartyr.

The feast day of Saint Zorzis falls upon the same day as that of Pope Sylvester, even though the two were separated not only by a time span of 1400 years, but also by a wide gap in social standing. While Sylvester glorified in the exalted role of Pope, Zorzis lived in the ignominy of slavery. That the Church honors on the same day one who lived in reverence while the other lived in wretchedness is further evidence that all men are equal in the sight of God.

During the 400 years under Turkish conquest, Orthodox Christians in general and Greeks in particular suffered untold hardships and persecution at the hands of the unrelenting Ottoman foe, whose Muslim fanaticism defiled the churches of Christ and wreaked every form of misery that could be devised. The survival of Orthodoxy is a tribute to the Christian courage of the Greek and other Orthodox people. Among the courageous was Zorzis, whose little-known life story epitomized the invincible Christian.

Born and baptized in the Orthodox faith, Zorzis was a mere lad of twelve and already a devout Christian when his captors sold him into slavery in 1710. His master's Muslim faith was intense; his hatred for Christians was equally so. Exactly what transpired between Zorzis and his master is not known, but it is speculated that they came to respect each other's devotion to their respective faiths, while at the same time not openly admitting it. The strange circumstances under which the boy appeared to have adopted the Muslim faith and language was a mystery.

The widening social gap between Saints Sylvester, an exalted Pope, and Zorzis, a humble peasant, was bridged by the love of Jesus Christ. Because he had no lofty perch from which to serve the Savior, the lowly Zorzis, a virtual slave all his earthly years, in giving up his life for Christ, elevated himself into the company of saints much more famous than he but none more dedicated to the cause of Christianity. The span of fourteen centuries that separated these two saints while they were on earth is dissolved in the timelessness of God, as a result of which the devout Zorzis could have followed the illustrious pope in death by but a few moments and be no less a servant of Jesus Christ. Time does not have to encrust this eighteenth-century martyr to be respected on the shelves of history. Meanwhile, a faithful Greek Orthodox communicant need put no strain on his imagination to piece together for himself the life and time of Saint Zorzis. If anything, the vast majority can more easily identify with the peasa

nt saint since only the select few step forward in their day to completely serve Christ officially as cleric or pope. It is rewarding to think that for three score years a man served outwardly another human being, all the while serving inwardly the King of Kings. It could happen to any Christian. It did happen to Zorzis.

During the sixty years of his slavery, the relationship between master and servant was such that Zorzis never sought to embarrass his master. That he continued to serve Christ is unquestionable and how he reconciled his true Christian faith and his apparent adoption of Islam became manifest upon the death of his master. Now that his obligation to his master was ended after sixty long years of enslaved service, his true service to God and Christ was his only obligation. He came forth to openly declare his faith in Christ, stating simply: "I was born an Orthodox Christian and now am prepared to die as an Orthodox Christian—not as a Muslim."

The enraged Turks brought him before the magistrate, declaring that he made a mockery of the Muslims for sixty years by secretly worshiping Christ while feigning Muslim observances. His accusers railed at Zorzis, but he did not flinch. The Greek, who for sixty years had endured as a Christian in quiet acquiescence, now stood in staunch defiance of his captors.

Unable to accept this defiance as anything but fake bravado in the light of sixty years of obeisance, the Turks unleashed their fury by casting Zorzis into a dungeon and thereafter torturing him for days. The will of this Christian was never broken; Zorzis never wavered. To the end denouncing the Muslim religion and refusing to deny his Christian faith, Zorzis was put to death on 2 January 1770.

Athanasios the Neomartyr (+1700)

(January 7)

The Holy Martyr Athanasius. This martyr of Christ was a poor and simple man, but was rich in faith and in wisdom through the Spirit of God. On one occasion he was inadvertently involved in a quarrel with a Turk. The Turk was educated and adroit with words, but Athanasius strove with all his might to present and uphold the truth of the Christian faith and its superiority over Islam. They then parted. On the following day, Athanasius was summoned to trial, and found the Turk standing there as his accuser. When the judge called on Athanasius to repudiate his faith and embrace Islam, as he had given the impression of declaring to his companion of the previous day, Athanasius cried out: 'I would die a thousand deaths before I would deny the Faith of Christ!' He was therefore condemned to death and beheaded in the year 1700. His body was buried in the Church of St Paraskeva in Smyrna, the city of his execution.

Venerable Martyr St. Agathangel

(19 April/2 May)

The Venerable Martyr St. Agathangel, in secular life Athanasius, was from the city of Ena, in Thrace. He was brought up in a strictly Orthodox family. After his parents’ repose, he entered the naval service. The Turks decided to convert the intelligent and capable youth to Islam. Aware that he would not voluntarily renounce Christ, they fell upon the Saint in Smyrna, wounded him, and threatening him with death, compelled him to adopt Islam. In his confusion, the youth promised to call himself a Muslim, hoping that he would soon be free of the coercers, and would be able to renounce his promise. However, for a long time he was unable to effect an escape, and was tortured by pangs of conscience. Finally finding an opportunity to leave the city, he fled to Holy Mount Athos in search of shelter. Euthemius, Abbot of the Monastery of Esphigmenou heard his confession, and blessed him to take on an obedience, one which St. Athanasius fulfilled with enormous dedication.

St. Athanasius considered even the most difficult spiritual struggles insufficient to demonstrate his repentance of his previous apostasy. He felt that he had to give up his life for the faith in Christ, and he prayed fervently for that to come to pass.

On the fourth Sunday of Great Lent, the nineteen-year-old youth underwent monastic tonsure, and was given the name Agathangel.

In a dream, Holy Hierarch St. Nicholas the Wonderworker appeared to the newly tonsured monk and promised his assistance. The Abbot of the Monastery interpreted this as a special sign, and blessed St. Agathangel to confess the Faith in Smyrna before those who had compelled him to renounce it.

In the Ottoman courtroom, the Confessor told of how he had been forced into adopting an alien faith. He publicly renounced Islam and confessed himself to be a Christian. They admonished and sought to persuade St. Agathangel, but he replied: "I have disdain for your admonitions, your promises, and for you yourselves. I love Christ alone. I seek after Christ, and want to delight in my Christ." When the judge threatened him with a martyr’s death, the Saint replied: "I am prepared to endure all for my Christ! I welcome all forms of torture with the greatest joy! I only ask that you not delay in acting on your words."

They bound St. Agathangel, shackled him with a heavy chain, locked his feet into wooden stocks, and cast him into a dungeon together with two likewise unjustly-condemned Christians, one of whom, named Nicholas, later bore witness to his martyrdom.

On the following day, St. Agathangel once again stood in shackles before the court. He courageously endured all of the tortures inflicted upon him by the Turks, and was once again taken to prison. When Nicholas informed him that a person of some influence was lobbying the court for his release, St. Agathangel sent the man a letter asking that he discontinue his efforts and instead pray to God that Agathangel be strengthened in his martyric struggle.

The Saint prepared for the final test. At midnight, it was revealed to him in a vision that he would be executed no later than 5:00 o’clock, and he joyously awaited the appointed hour. About 4:00 the guards came for him. Seeing no possibility of turning the resolute Confessor from the Christian Faith, the judges decided that he was to be put to death. Praying intently, the Saint noticed neither the preparations for his execution nor the great crowd of people that had gathered. At about 5:00 AM on 19 April, 1819, he was beheaded. Christians ransomed the Martyr’s Holy Relics and buried them in the Smyrna Church of St. George the Great Martyr.

In 1844, a portion of Venerable Martyr Agathangel’s Holy Relics were translated to the Monastery of Esphigmenou on Holy Mount Athos.

New Martyr Nicodemos of Mt. Athos.

(July 11)

During the four century occupation of Greece by the Turks, Nicodemos, a Christian, after careful consideration, turned to Islam. He also required that his wife and children convert which they did, except one son who escaped to Mt. Athos. Nicodemos pursued him. As he climbed the hills of Athos, he was overpowered by a blinding flash of light from Heaven. He repented there on the holy mountain with his son, and he also became a monk. Hearing of his repentance, his family also converted back to Christianity. After three years, he had a vision that he must return to denounce his conversion to Islam. When he did, he was beheaded. His healing relics are uncorrupted to this day.

Nikitas of Nisyros the Neomartyr (1732)

(June 21)

When eighteenth century Greeks were under the rule and religious sway of the Turks, Nikitas died trying to bring his family back to Christianity. His father, out of expediency, had the family embrace Islam when he was a young boy on the island of Nisyros. At 14 years of age, he ran away from the new family home on Rhodes to the island of Chios. He was taken in and educated in Christianity by the monks. In just three years, he became one of the more spiritual monks there. Driven by the need to reconvert his family, he returned to Rhodes. When he could not pay the head tax imposed on Christians, he was found out to be Mehmet, his Muslim name, and consequently tried for rejecting Islam. When he refused to deny Jesus Christ, he was beheaded.

Alexander the Neomartyr of Thessalonica

Alexander was an eighteenth century apostate who defected from Christianity. Even though his parents had moved from Thessalonica to Smyrna in Asia Minor to protect him from hedonistic influences, he fell in with dervishes there who swayed him to Islam. He even took a pilgrimage of Mecca, the holy city of Islam. When he came to himself, he repented through fasting and prayer. He exhorted many towards Christianity paradoxically dressed as a Muslim. He appeared before the magistrate of his own accord, determined to vindicate his apostasy as a martyr. He eloquently defended Christianity before a group of Muslim dignitaries and for this he was imprisoned and tortured. His battle cry was that he was born a Christian and that he would die a Christian. He was beheaded.

Saint Nicholas of Metsov

(May 16)

The two hundred years of constant attack by the Saracens, the Vikings, and the Magyars, bringing in turn the Crusades, the fourth of which in 1204 so weakened the Byzantine Empire that finally in 1453 the Ottoman Turks ran roughshod over a once invincible Christian Empire. Pope Urban II's earnest dram of a unified Christendom died with the Byzantine Empire, but he had the consolation of drawing from the last of the crusades the unity of those who had been converted in prior years. For the next two centuries the only thing that stood between European Christianity and the Ottoman hordes was the weakened Byzantine Empire but for whom the light of Jesus Christ would have been considerably dimmed, if not extinguished.

The brief life story of a humble layman of invincible Christian spirit typifies the character of a small nation whose remarkable religious endurance is surpassed only by their glorious history. This young's man name is known to us as Nicholas the Neomartyr, who was born in the late sixteenth century in Metsov, Epiros, Greece, at a time when more than two centuries of Ottoman oppression had scarred the identity of the Greeks and to some extent their unswerving faith.

When his Christian parents had died, Nicholas found himself removed from his village to be apprenticed as a baker in the employ of a wily Turk who managed to draw the impressionable youth away from Christianity and live as a Muslim. As he grew to manhood, however, he not only abandoned his employer but returned to his home town and to Christianity. In abject penitence he sought out the village priest to whom he confessed his despair in having so shabbily denied the Savior, offering no excuse for his defection but pleading for the Lord's forgiveness. A few hours with the kindly priest, whom he visited daily, brought the young man the conviction that he had been forgiven, and he went about his way with more than enough Christian spirit in his heart to make up for the lost years in Trikkala.

Nicholas turned t woodcutting, a labor in the great outdoors which he much preferred to the baker's oven and which he developed to far greater profit. He was thus engaged when he happened to meet his former employer who began to ply him with questions which Nicholas answered in all honesty. Realizing that he could take advantage of this turn of events, the crafty Turk offered to keep secret the return of Nicholas to Christianity, which was grievous offense to the Muslims, in exchange for a free supply of wood to meet the needs of the baker's ovens. It was a small price to pay for one's live, the woodcutter was advised.

Aside from resenting the blackmailing attempt by his former employer, Nicholas deplored the idea of sharing with his enemy an extorted secret which was little better than disavowing the Messiah all over again. Making no bargain, the young Christian made straight for his parish priest who was so concerned for the safety of the woodcutter that he was advised to run away into obscurity. When Nicholas was further advised that his staying meant sure death, unless under torture he returned to Islam, he stated that if he were put to trial, he would die before he would reject Christ.

The inevitable happened when Nicholas was seized on charges of treason, among other things, and when the atrocities had run their course with no change in the mutilated prisoner's heart, he was put to death by fire on 16 May 1617 when but twenty-six years old. The mortal remains of this loyal servant of the Lord were recovered by a roofer who walled up the relics in a house he was helping to build so there would be no further vilification of his memory.

A man named Melandros bought the house after beholding a shaft of light beaming on the spot wherein the remains of Nicholas lay. Melandros had a brother who was monk at the fabulous Monastery of Barlaam at Meteora to whom he brought the precious remains he dug out of the walled area. Since then many miracles have been attributed to Nicholas of Metsovo, who to this day abides in the spiritual bastion of Barlaam, whose only access is by basket pulled aloft to dizzying heights by hands daily clasped in prayer.

Bakchos the Younger

(December 16)

Bakchos, a Palestinian martyr and saint, was born in Maiouma. His parents were both originally Christian, but his father converted to Islam and raised his seven sons as Muslims. Bakchos, the thirdoldest son, bore the Arabic name Dahak which, the hagiographer asserts, means "Gelasios" in Greek. After his father's death Dahak confided to his mother, who had remained a crypto-Christian, his desireto convert to Christianity and enter monastic life. Dahak, now age 18, went on pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and was taken by a Sabaite monk to Mar Saba. There he was baptized as Bakchos and tookmonastic vows. Because of the risk he ran as a renegade Muslim, he led a wandering existence, ratherthan settling in one place.Following the visit to Jerusalem of Bakchos' mother and her joyful reunion with her son, all ofhis brothers decided to renounce Islam together with their families. They were betrayed to the Mus-lims, however, by one of the wives. Bakchos was arrested in Jerusalem, put on trial in the praitorionand beheaded on 16 December. He was buried by pious Christians in a church of Sts. Kosmas andDamian, probably located in Jerusalem.Bakchos' life and martyrdom is described in a vita available only in a 17th-c. edition by Combefis;the text is preserved in a 10th-c. manuscript, Paris. gr. 1180, and was attributed by Combefis, probablyerroneously, to Niketas David Paphlagon. Demetrakopoulos published a lengthy synaxarion notice,based on Athens, Nat. Libr. 2108, which he argues is an abridgement of the vita published by Combefis.The chronology of Bakchos' life is confused: the Combefis version gives 6296 [=787/8], the Demetrakopoulos version 6290 [=781/2] as the date of the marriage of Bakchos' parents, but Demetrakopoulos argues that the hagiographer made a careless mistake, and intended this to be thedate of martyrdom. A 10th-c. Palestino-Georgian calendar (Sinait. georg. 34) places Bakchos' martyr-dom on 11 April (perhaps the result of a misreading of the Dorian name Apellaios for the month ofDecember) "in the days of the emir Harthama". Since Harthama took office in Jerusalem after theaccession to the throne of Harun al-Rashid (786-806), 6296 [=787/8] must be the correct date forBakchos' martyrdom and he would have been born ca. 769/70. The date of 787/8 tallies well with thestatement of the lemma to the synaxarion notice that he was martyred during the reign of ConstantineVI and Irene (780-797).Since the cult of Bakchos was well established by the 10th c., the original version of his vitamust have been written in the 9th century.Editions:F.A. Demetrakopoulos, " ÜAgiow Băkxow i N°ow," EEPhSPA26 (1979) 331-363

St Constantine of Hydra

(27 July 1829)

Collection of Simonopetra Monastery

Engraved in Hydra

Engraver: Agathangelos Triantaphyllou of Serres, hierodeacon

The neomartyr, dressed in ecclesiastical vestments, stands full-length in the centre of the icon, holding a palm branch in his left hand and the martyr's cross in his right. Behind him the densely populated town of Hydra climbs up two hills. The large church at lower left with the tall bell tower is the Monastery of the Virgin, the present cathedral, and the monastery of Prophet Elijah can be seen high up on the mountain. On the sea are rowing boats and ships under full sail. In the heavens, on the left among clouds, Christ, with a closed book in his hand, blesses the saint, while on the right an angel places the martyr's crown on Constantine's head. Between the two iconographic figures is the inscription: [Icon] of the holy and glorious new martyr Constantine of the famous island of Hydra, who suffered death for Christ's sake on the island of Rhodes. printed for the benefit of Orthodox Christians.

The neomartyr Constantine was born on Hydra in the eighteenth century and at the age of eight went to Rhodes, where he became a Muslim. He later reverted to the Orthodox faith and became a monk in the Monastery of Iviron on Mount Athos. He returned to Rhodes to preach the Word of God, and the Turkish authorities imprisoned him for apostasy. He was hanged on 14 November 1800.

This is a fine engraving in a folk style by the hierodeacon Agathangelos Triantaphyllou from Nigrita near the town of Serres, who later taught engraving at the School of Art (Polytechnic) at Athens (1843-56). Although his five known works include none specifically mentioned as being done on Mount Athos, the time he spent there, before 1826, as a monk and engraver is clearly responsible for the purely Athonite style of the icon. The much simpler work engraved in a folk style in 1877 on Hydra by the hieromonk Gabriel of Skopelos is based on the same iconography.

Bibliography: Papastratou 1986, no. 277.

Stamatios the Neomartyr

(August 16)

In his voluminous classic, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,the English historian, Edward Gibbon, observed that "All taxes must, at last, fall upon agriculture." More than a thousand years later, after the decline and fall of the mighty Byzantine Empire, that remark about taxes still held true in seventeenth-century Greece, whose largely agrarian economy, never robust in its best days, suffered grievously from the burdensome taxes imposed upon it. A man named Stamatios had the courage to protest the heavy-handedness of the Turkish tax collectors against the Greeks not only citizens but as Christians as well. The courage of this patriot of the late seventeenth century was exceeded only by his unshakable faith in Jesus Christ.

Stamatios bristled at the sight of the tax collectors who exacted tribute for the faceless Turkish authorities now firmly entrenched in the ancient city of Byzantium, still referred to as Constantinople. The protest against the excessive taxes fell upon deaf ears and when he could bear it no more, Stamatios organized a dedicated group of villagers and led them in presenting their case to the Sultan himself in the distant capital city. Looked upon by the most optimistic as an exercise in futility and by others as a foolhardy venture whose end result would be debasement and even death, the small group marched undismayed toward the capital,led by the indomitable Stamatios.

They reached their destination without incident but never got beyond the outer offices of the Sultan, playing into the hands of a grand vizier who not only took delight in heaping indignities on any hapless Greek who dared to utter a complaint but took even greater delight in torturing a Christian to a point where the latter would at last disavow the Savior and embrace the Muslim faith. This was the ultimate triumph, a choice bit of news that could be brought to the Sultan himself, thereafter to parade the harried convert in public.

It is one thing to voice a protest and then withdraw into oblivion when denied, and quite another to stand one's ground in the presence of an oppressive ruler with the power to crush anyone or anything who dared to defy him, but nevertheless that is precisely what Stamatios did. When all seemed hopeless, his contingent withdrew in disgust and frustration, but Stamatios insisted on seeing the Sultan, producing a list of grievances to substantiate his claim of unfair treatment. The grand vizier saw in this lone figure the provocations which would justify whatever he chose to do, and he chose to do his worst.

The routine condemnation at a mock trial was followed by a period of several weeks in a squalid jail cell from which the bedraggled but still defiant Stamatios would be dragged for the interrogation and treatment referred to today as brainwashing. When this failed, there commenced a series of inhuman tortures calculated to break the spirit as well as the body of this courageous Christian. Following this failure, the prisoner was brought before the grand vizier who did an about-face by sympathizing with the wretched prisoner and beguiling him with promises to restore him to a proper place in society. All he had to do was declare himself to be a Muslim. Stamatios scorned this place in society, preferring the society of Jesus Christ, and repeated that cajolery could not shake him from this high resolve.

Their efforts exhausted, the authorities demanded the death penalty. This noble Greek was dragged to the grand Cathedral of Hagia Sophia and before one of its massive doors he was mercilessly beheaded. The rare Stamatios died for Christ; 16 August 1688, thereafter to become one of the many sainted laymen in the glorious Orthodox roll of honor.

Argyre the Neomartyr

(April 30)

Argyre was a beautiful Christian newlywed who lived south of Constantinople during the Turkish occupation of Greece. A Turk attempted to seduce her, and when she refused, he brought her to trial for having made advances towards him with the thought of becoming Muslim. She was imprisoned and given several retrials, after which she was beaten. During the seventeen years in prison, she could have been released had she denied Christianity. She fasted during this time and was thankful to be imprisoned for Christ. She even refused release when another Christian had the charges against her dropped. After she died, in 1725, Christians buried her, and when her relics were uncovered, they were intact and fragrant. They were taken within the church of St. Paraskeve and are venerated there to this day.

Martyr Dimos (or Demos, Demosthenes, Dimosthenis)

(April 10)

...In the Christian Orthodox religion, newborns are baptized between their 6th-15th month of age. They are given names of Saints and Martyrs of the Christian Orthodox Church.

Orthodox Christian Martyr Dimos lived in Asia Minor (Western Turkey) near the town called "Adrianopolis" in a village called in Turkish "Yortzun Kioprou". He was a fisherman and he used to work in a fish farm. One year he worked in a fish farm near the city of "Smirni" owned by a Turk. Apparently the fish farm did not make any profit that year so Dimos did not earn a salary and because of that he ended up owning debts. The fish farm was sold to another Turk. The new owner demanded from Dimos to work for him and earn the same percentage of the profit that the other employees would get at the end of year. But Dimos thought that he should look for work elsewhere, where he would have more possibilities to earn his living. He declined to work although his fellow friends--Christians-- encouraged him to work for the new owner.

The new owner got very upset and not having any other way to persuade Dimos, he went out and claimed that Dimos had promised that if he would not work for the fish farm, he would become a Muslim. The new owner managed to get some pseudo-witnesses to testify against Dimos. Dimos was arrested and taken to the Judge. The Judge then forced Dimos to reject his believe in the Christian God and become a Muslim. Dimos insisted that he had never made such a promise and he was a Christian, he believed on the Christian God and that he was ready to give his blood rather than become a Muslim. He was taken to jail where he was tortured numerous times. The Judge questioned Dimos three more times, but Dimos insisted on being a Christian. They promised him great benefits if he was to become a Muslim and great torture if he was to remain a Christian. Nothing could make Dimos reject his Christian beliefs. His head was taken off and Dimos joined the chorus of Martyrs who gave their lives for Jesus Christ. His body was buried by the Christians at the nearby Christian Church of Saint George.

To honor Martyr Dimos, God performed a number of miracles to people who asked Martyr Dimos for help: A tailor’s sick fingers recovered when he touched the grave of Martyr Dimos. A woman regained her sight. A man was suffering a terrible headache until he prayed to Martyr Dimos for help. History also notes that when years latter his remains were taken up to earth, they were surrounded by a beautiful aroma.

Martyr Dimos gave his life for Jesus Christ in 1763 a.d. The Christian Orthodox Church commemorates him on April 10. This day is the "name day" of all the Orthodox Christians who have been baptized "Dimos".

Source: "Martyrologio": Biographies of Christian Orthodox Martyrs

St. Nicolas Basdanis the New Martyr

(May 17)

Editor's Note: This article appeared on the World Wide Web at http://www. philo.demon.co.uk/nicolas.htm and is reprinted with the kind permission of its authors.

Metsovo on the borders of Epiros and Thessaly was the birth place of St. Nicolas the New Martyr, often known as "St Nicolas the Vlach". The Pindos Mountain range in Central Greece has long been home to the Vlachs, a mainly Romanian speaking minority who have always lived at peace with their Greek speaking neighbors. Staunchly Orthodox, only a few Vlachs converted to Islam during the long centuries of Ottoman domination. At one point of his life this St Nicolas joined that small community of Vlach Muslims.

The Basdanis family were one of the poorer families of Metsovo, a prosperous town on an important trade route across the Pindos Mountains. By reputation they were devout and hard working Orthodox Christians, it is likely that they spoke Greek and the local Vlach dialect. At a young age Nicolas was sent to Trikala to work, here he was employed by a baker in a mainly Muslim area. Quite naturally, he made many friends amongst the Muslim community of Trikala -- people of his own age and others who frequented the well known bakery.

Certain influential and well educated Turks took an interest in this bright young man; they helped him in many ways and over a period of time they persuaded Nicolas that it was to his advantage to become a Muslim. Flattered by their attention and dazzled by the prospect of becoming associated with the elite of the ruling community he finally converted to Islam. It is recorded that the Saint was immediately struck by remorse and that he secretly left for Metsovo, his home town. Here he reverted to Christianity and took up a life of striking repentance and prayer.

Nicolas was warmly welcomed back by his family and relatives but, being very poor, they were unable to support him for very long. He soon came out of hiding and found a job that also involved him transporting pine woodtorches to Trikala. On one such journey he was inevitably recognized by a Turkish barber, an old acquaintance, who noticed that Nicolas was no longer dressed as a Muslim. This man threatened to denounce him to the authorities unless Nicolas agreed to bring him a certain quantity of pine wood torches once a year. Nicolas, knowing that the penalty for apostasy from Islam was death, left all the merchandise that he had brought to sell for his employers in Trikala with the barber and agreed to come back a year later with more.

Back in Metsovo the Saint had time to think things over. He consulted his spiritual director and after many discussions they agreed that he neither should nor could give in to blackmail. Nicolas himself was convinced that he was now prepared to make public his reversion to Christianity and face the consequences. After much prayer and discussions with the monks of the Meteora Monasteries, his spiritual director also agreed and gave the Saint his blessing.

On the appointed day Nicolas returned to Trikala to meet the Turkish barber. He refused to hand over any pine wood and invited the barber to turn him in to the authorities. Outraged, the barber dragged him before the Muslim judges. Nicolas fearlessly spoke out before the judges and the many Turks who soon gathered about. In the face of promises and threats he insisted that he had been born a Christian and so desired to die one too.

Nicolas was beaten by the mob and thrown into the castle dungeons. Here he was tortured and starved but steadfastly refused to give in. Eventually the authorities decreed that he should be burnt in the central square of Trikala. The sentence was carried out on May 17, 1617. The Saint died, praying in the flames before the assembled citizens of Trikala.

A certain potter bribed the Turkish guards for a portion of the Saint's relics. The New Martyr was soon famous across the region and numerous miracles were attributed to his intercessions. The healing properties of the few surviving relics ensured a steady flow of pilgrims from all parts of Epiros and Thessaly. These are now shared between the Varlaam Monastery of Meteora, the Eleousa Monastery on an island in Lake Ioannina and the Monastery of the Dormition in Metsovo.

The people of the Pindos Mountains revere the Saint as their special patron. In his home town, Metsovo, a church was dedicated to him in 1800 and another was erected on the site of the family home in 1959. Others can be found in the Trikala region, at Tyrnavo and as far away as Artemis in Attica. Nicolas Carcase published the Life and Office of the Saint in Venice in 1767.

The Holy Synod of the Ecumenical Patriarchate formally canonized Nicolas Basdanis as a saint of the Universal Church on November 28, 1988. He is commemorated on this date and on that of his martyrdom - May 17.