John the Kalfa

Holy New Martyr John the Kalfa (John Kalphes, the Apprentice) lived in Galata, a district of Constantinople, and was beheaded on 26 February 1575. The Church commemorates him on 26 February.

He was a cabinetmaker by profession, so skilled that important officials made use of his services; the inner adornment of the sultan's palace was entrusted to him. He was distinguished by Christian charity: he helped orphans and those in prison, and many turned to him for help. Once a dignitary asked him to take his nephew as an apprentice. He agreed, and the youth received an honourable position at court after completing his apprenticeship. One day, meeting his former teacher and benefactor, he asked him what the Christian books say about their "prophet" Mohammed. John did not want to answer, but at the youth's insistence he said that Mohammed was only a mortal, an unlearned man, who did not perform a single miracle in his life, and no prophet but an adversary of God. The youth, devoted to Islam, told the other Muslims that the cabinetmaker had insulted Mohammed.

John was brought to trial, where he was asked to renounce Christ, but he boldly confessed his faith. After torture he was sent to penal servitude, where he spent six months; then for three months he was beaten in prison. Seeing that they could not sway him, they beheaded him in the crowded city square, in Ergat-⁠Bazar, near the Bedestan, on 26 February 1575, a Sunday. His sufferings were recorded by Father Andrew, the Chief Steward of the Patriarch of Constantinople, who communed him with the Holy Mysteries in prison.