George of Chios

George of Chios was a young man of twenty-⁠two, born on Chios, forced in childhood to accept Islam, who remained Orthodox in heart and was put to death for Christ at Kydonies (Aivali) on 26 November 1807. He is honoured as a new martyr and is commemorated on 26 November. He has no known canonization.

Childhood and denial

He was born on Chios to Paraskeva and Agerou. His mother died when he was eighteen months old and he was raised by his stepmother. At ten he was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker named Vessetzes, with whom he went to the island of Psara to make an iconostasis for the church of St Nicholas. There he made friends with other boys and left the island without telling his master. The boys reached Kavala, tried to steal fruit from a garden, were caught and brought before the city's judge. Frightened, George embraced Islam, was circumcised and was named Ahmed.

His family lost track of him until a ship with watermelons arrived on Chios and a relative saw him come ashore as an apprentice sailor, hearing him called Ahmed. George stayed silent. Another time he went to his father's house and found no one, and the third time, dressed as an Orthodox Christian, he met his father, who burst into tears and said it would be better to see him dead than in such a wretched state. George wept too, for he had repented and confessed his faith in Christ. After a few days at home his father took him to Kydonies (Aivali) in Asia Minor and placed him with a good Orthodox farmer outside the town, for fear of the Turks.

At Kydonies George felt safe and content for ten years. His father, still afraid, wanted him to leave on a Russian ship, but he refused. He moved into the town to live with an elderly Christian woman who became like a mother to him, and to whom he told everything. Two years later he became engaged. His fiancee's parents asked this "mother" about his background, and she told them the whole story, which spread through the family. One day George quarrelled over money with his fiancee's brother, who denounced him to the authorities as an apostate from Islam. Friends urged him to hide, but he refused.

Confession

He was seized and taken before the judge. Asked why he had left the faith he had embraced, he answered that he had neither denied his faith nor accepted theirs: he had been forced as a child, but had never changed his mind, had always been Orthodox and had always despised their religion. Asked his name, he understood the trap and said "George", the name with which he wanted to die. Flattered and offered inducements, and warned that his death would be cruel, he answered: "Kill me. I accept my death with joy."

Martyrdom

He was in prison from 8 to 25 November, while the Christians prayed that he might have strength. On 24 November he was sentenced to die on the 26th. He thanked God, asked for a priest, confessed and received Holy Communion. On the evening of 25 November 1807 the Orthodox kept an all-⁠night vigil for him, and the next day a great crowd gathered outside the prison, which frightened the Turks. On his way to the execution he asked forgiveness of every Orthodox Christian he met. One of them, a servant of the aga, offered him his arms so that George might take his place and the man die for Christ. George refused: "I denied Christ and I die for His name." He ran ahead of the executioner, saying the Jesus Prayer, and when Muslims urged him to repent and remain a Muslim, he cried: "No, no. I am an Orthodox Christian and I wish to die an Orthodox Christian." The executioner shot him in the back, then struck his neck with the sword several times until the head came off. He repeated the Jesus Prayer until his last breath.

Veneration

The Christians buried him on the deserted islet of Nisopoula, near Aivali. Later his relics were moved to a church built in his honour over the place of his martyrdom at Kydonies, where until 1922 a great feast was held each year. Today he is honoured especially on Lesbos and Chios, where there are churches in his name, and also on Santorini and Syros. The Turks sold his skull to a German, who sold it to a Christian who gave it to the Benaki Museum in Athens, where it is today.