Gerasimus of Karpenisi

Holy Venerable Martyr Gerasimus of Karpenisi was born in 1787 in a village near the town of Karpenisi, in the region of Evrytania in Greece. At the age of eleven he went with his elder brother to Constantinople, where he was apprenticed to a grocer, a man from their own village. One day, carrying a tray of sour milk, he dropped it, feared his master's punishment and wept bitterly.

A noble Turkish woman took him into her house and, with gentle persuasion, led him to accept circumcision, that is, to pass over to the Muslim faith. For five years he served in her house, then went to another master, who took him along on a journey. Returning to Constantinople two years later, he recognised his sin, went back to his native region and began a life of repentance under the guidance of a village priest.

His conscience gave him no rest. At night he often went to a ruined chapel of Saint George and prayed to be led toward martyrdom. The children mocked him, calling him a monk, and he took their words as a prophecy and told his mother that he wished to become a monk. His mother did not approve and began to look for a bride for him.

He then turned to a monk of the monastery of Prousa, who helped him flee to Mount Athos, to the skete of Saint Panteleimon belonging to Koutloumousiou monastery. There he was placed under the guidance of Hieromonk Cyril, a companion of Saint Nicodemus of the Holy Mountain. With many tears he begged the elder to tonsure him before the usual three years of novitiate, and three days after the tonsure he asked a blessing for martyrdom. The elder did not give it.

With a heavy heart he went from monastery to monastery, seeking the counsel of spiritual men. Then he asked leave to visit his mother and brothers and, having received it, boarded a ship for Constantinople. From there he wrote to the elder, asking forgiveness for the stratagem by which he had obtained the blessing: he wished to go to his true homeland, the heavenly Jerusalem, where the Mother of God and the saints dwell.

He appeared at the Turkish house where he had been forced to renounce his faith and declared that he had returned to it and wished to suffer for Christ. He was thrown into prison and tortured for two weeks. He told his torturers that the torments gave him joy and that his soul shone.

He was beheaded on 3 July 1812 in the square beside the church of Hagia Sophia. It is told that as his head rolled on the ground, his face remained smiling. His body stayed on its knees for a quarter of an hour, then lowered itself to the ground, gently, as if lying down to sleep.

Saint Gerasimus is venerated in the Greek Church and commemorated on 16 July (new style). He is not included in the present calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church.