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| The retrieval of the beheaded body of St. George of Chios from the ravine it was thrown into, which his friends transferred to an uninhabited island for burial off the coast of Kydonies. |
By Fr. George Dorbarakis
Saint George was born in Chios. His father was named Paraskevas, and his mother Aggerou. At the age of 18 months, orphaned by his mother, he was handed over by his father to be raised by his stepmother. In childhood, his parents handed George over to a woodcarver, named Vissetzis, to teach him his art. When he once came to Psara with his boss, to carve the iconostasis of the Church of Saint Nicholas, George fled with some young men to Kavala. There he was arrested stealing from a garden and handed himself over to the judge. To avoid punishment, he accepted Islam, was circumcised and was named Ahmed. At the age of 10, he returned to Chios crying and confessing Christ. His father, in order to protect him, took him to one of his estates in Kydonies ((also known as Aivali). Later, at the age of 22, he became engaged and the brother of his fiancée, because he had financial differences with him, betrayed him to the Turkish commander, saying that while he had become a Muslim, he had returned to Christianity. He was tortured cruelly and after he had received the Holy Mysteries in prison, on the morning of November 26, 1807, they cut off his head - in a martyric manner - little by little. Thus he received the crown of martyrdom, from Christ the crowner of athletes.
It is not only the Great Martyr George who holds a prominent position in the firmament of the Church of Christ. There are many others with the same name, who were enabled by God to follow in the footsteps of the martyrdom of this God-pleaser – which means, of course, the footsteps of the leader of the faith, Jesus Christ Himself – and for this reason they also equally illuminate His holy Church and glorify His holy name. For always “God is wondrous in His saints.” Such is the Neomartyr George the Chiopolitis (a native of Chios), who is celebrated today, and who is even vaguely paralleled by the Saint's hymnographer, Saint Nikephoros of Chios, with the Great Martyr George not only because of their common name - "you have become synonymous with the ancient Great Martyr, thrice-blessed George" he says in a troparion of the Praises - but also because of their "mutual dwelling" in Paradise. "The brilliant George appeared glorious among the ancient martyrs, but you, the new George, are of the same name and have mutually dwelled with him, appearing glorious among the Neomartyrs, for this we all honor you" (Megalynarion).
This new Saint George therefore belongs to the group of the Neomartyrs of the Church, that is, those who lived during the era of Turkish rule, and indeed to the group of those who have been characterized as apostates. Because he, like some others such as Saint Constantine of Hydra, for example, following some pressure from the Turks or some special promise they gave them, denied Christ and became Muslims for a while. But what happened later? The moment came when they understood their fall, repented of it and decided to make amends with the sacrifice of their own lives. Our Church may have been and always will be wary of the phenomenon called “eispidisi,” that is, the voluntary seeking of martyrdom, but especially during the Ottoman occupation, the specific tactic of washing away the sin of apostasy with the offering of the life of the apostate, and most often in the same place where his fall had occurred, had become established. A prerequisite for this voluntary martyrdom was the appropriate preparation of the candidate martyr, which was undertaken by special spiritual men, mainly on Mount Athos, who functioned as a kind of anointers, that is, spiritual trainers, and who subjected the repentant apostates to appropriate exercises of repentance, so that they would be strengthened to face all the sufferings that the martyrdom of blood entails.
The same thing happens here with Saint George, except for the element of place and preparation that usually occurred. His conversion occurred in Kavala, he was martyred in Kydonies in Asia Minor (today's Ayvalik); he himself remains to be martyred, even though he can avoid martyrdom, without the specific trainer being present. And yet: the decision of his martyrdom from the beginning was not apparent, given that he had confessed his sin and had probably rested his conscience. In any case, martyrdom "arrived" for him when he was betrayed by his fiancée's brother for financial reasons, at which point the entire hidden flame of his faith and love for Christ came to the surface. The Holy Hymnographer points out several aspects of his entire situation and makes very interesting assessments.
He first characterizes the denial of Christ as a “pit” that the arch-evil enemy threw him into, because of his infantile faith, and from which he escaped when he became a man. “The arch-evil enemy deceived you and threw you into a pit, when you were with the mind of an infant. But when you strengthened this mind, you were raised, athlete, to the height of divine athleticism” (Ode 1). His “voluntary” (Ode 3) martyrdom he then characterizes as a lawful athleticism (Ode 3), that is, in accordance with the will of God, and above all as a wise man, because it shows his deep faith and the same mind as that of the Apostle Paul. As the Apostle said that life for him means Christ – “to me to live is Christ and to die is gain” – in the same way Saint George: he chose to die for Christ rather than to live without faith in Him: “Having in mind the choice to die for the sake of Christ rather than to live without Him, martyr George, therefore with joy to those who were seeking to arrest you in order to put you to death you voluntarily handed yourself over” (Sticheron of Vespers).
And yet, the Holy Hymnographer reveals the bravery of the heart of the New Martyr, both during his interrogation by the judge, but above all during his imprisonment and the terrible hour of his martyrdom. “You stood before the lawless judge without hesitation,” he notes, “and you proclaimed your faith with power, without yielding to his flattery” (Ode 4). His imprisonment is therefore the only way out. But even there, “remaining for many days, he glorified God with all his soul, heart and mind” (Ode 4). However, this brave and steadfast stance of his does not mean that he did not have “human” elements, rather because of them he was revealed in all its glory. What do we mean? The Saint must have at some point gone through a test of temptations, and even spiritual temptations which are the hardest and perhaps the most painful. The devil presented him with thoughts of cowardice and perhaps unbelief, which he faced with the support of a priest who was also a prisoner with him – he was his trainer at that moment – and with the Divine Communion he gave him, but also with the assistance of the entire local church, which had mobilized in the common struggle of prayer for him. “The soul-destroying thoughts of satan, divinely-minded George, were cast away from you by the divine Eucharist of the all-revered and heavenly mysteries of the Savior Christ, when you received it with reverence” (Ode 4). “The faithful people daily asked with their prayers and supplications that divine power might descend into your heart, most-illutrious one, which you received from God” (Ode 5). The Lord indeed responded to the Martyr's difficulties, as He always does, especially in moments of human weakness, which is why the Martyr ultimately became a "trophy-bearer." "Christ God, who knows the weakness of the flesh, clothed you, Martyr George, with mighty power from on high, as you fought in a worthy manner" (Ode 5).
We should not leave the above remark uncommented, where the faithful people pray unitedly for the sake of the Martyr. It reveals the power of the Church's prayer, which refers to the early Christian community of Jerusalem. Was it not in Jerusalem that the prayer of the faithful to the Lord, when the Apostle Peter was imprisoned, shook the foundations of the prison with an earthquake and the Apostle was freed? The same happens with the New Martyr George, so that the Church of Kydonies, in such a difficult and critical time, emerges as a model and a benchmark for our own time. How many problems would be solved if we activated common prayer, the power of which is founded on the words of the Lord Himself who says "where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." That is why the Holy Hymnographer returns to this theme of the Church of Kydonies in Ode 9, to declare: “The city of Kydonies, having seen you with its own eyes, blessed George, fighting with strength and conquering, rejoiced, and for this reason it celebrates your memory annually with odes” (Ode 9).
The Saint remained steadfast with the grace of the Lord and the assistance of the prayers of the faithful and entered gloriously into the Kingdom of God. His glorious position in the now triumphant Church is adequately described by the Holy Hymnographer. “He was added to the choir of martyrs and with them he glorifies God” (Ode 7). “Clothed with purple from his own blood, he stands gloriously before Christ” (Ode 7), while upon his entry into His Kingdom the heavens were opened. “Today the heavens are opened and the newly appeared athlete George enters gloriously and stands before Christ whom he longed for with boldness” (Doxastikon of the Liti).
It is therefore understandable for the Hymnographer that “not only Chios, the homeland of the Saint, not only the city of Kydonies which has him as its patron and guardian, but also the entire Church of the faithful rejoices, because it has acquired a new intercessor before God” (Liti). We ask with faith for the intercession of the Holy New Martyr George, not only the Hymnographer (Ode 9), but also all the faithful, so that he may deliver us from all kinds of dangers (Ode 9).
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
