George of Neapolis

George of Neapolis was a priest of Cappadocia who received martyrdom by beheading in 1797 near Malakopi, close to Neapolis (today Nevsehir). The Ecumenical Patriarchate numbered him among the saints in 1995, and the Church commemorates him on 3 November.

He lived in Neapolis of Asia Minor in the eighteenth century, as a priest at the church of the Dormition of the Mother of God. He served with righteousness and holiness, gentle, loving and patient, comforting and supporting the Greek Christians under Turkish rule. In 1797 he was invited to the village of Malakopi, six hours from Neapolis, to serve at a great feast and bless the faithful, because their priest was ill or, according to others, was hiding from the fury of the Turks. The elder priest gladly accepted, without thought of danger. On a shabby donkey he set out willingly. Near Malakopi, at Kobia Dere ("the ravine"), he was attacked by Turkish shepherds who fell on him with indescribable fury. They robbed him, stripped him and at last cut off his head. They left his body, naked and bloodied, with the head, in a neighbouring canyon.

After four days, seeing him neither at Malakopi nor back at Neapolis, the citizens of Neapolis went to look for him. They found the holy body and head and lamented. A shepherd buried him hastily, for fear of the Turks, and above the grave a stone was placed with the simple inscription "The Priest George". After some time the saint appeared in a dream to a pious widow, told her what had happened and asked her to tell the mayor to look for his grave. The woman paid no heed, but when the dream was repeated she was afraid and did what she was told. The citizens of Neapolis, led by the priest Neophytos, son of the priest Vasilios, a fellow priest of the saint in the same parish, dug up the shallow grave. The saint's body was whole and incorrupt, giving off a heavenly fragrance. They venerated it, placed it in a wooden casket and carried it to the house of Fr Neophytos, as the saint wished, where they kept it in a cell.

Many came there, locals and foreigners, to venerate and receive a blessing from his relics. Miracles began to happen: the sick and disabled were healed, childless couples bore children, spiritual illnesses vanished, and in a time of drought the people of Neapolis ran to the saint and soon saw the rain fall abundantly. In 1924, with the exchange of populations, the Greeks of Cappadocia left for free Greece, each taking what he thought most precious. The priest of the church of the Dormition, Archimandrite Ignatios, counting the safe transfer of the miraculous incorrupt relic of Saint George his first duty, brought it from the shore of Mersin by steamer to Attica; the sea was very rough, but was calmed by a miracle of the saint. In Attica the relic was given to the people of Neapolis, who placed it with reverence in the church of St Eustathios in Nea Neapolis, Perissos. Since then countless miracles and healings have taken place. Since 11 February 1999, at the request of Metropolitan Dionysios and with the consent of Metropolitan Stephen of Trifylia and Olympia, a piece of the relic has been kept in the metropolitan church of St George of Neapolis.