Martyrs of Zographou

The Martyrs of Zographou are twenty-⁠six venerable martyrs, monks of Zographou Monastery on Mount Athos, killed in the year 1276 for the Orthodox faith: the abbot Thomas, twenty-⁠one monks and four laymen. They are commemorated on 10 October (new style).

Emperor Michael Palaiologos had retaken Constantinople in 1261. Hoping thereby to save his weakened state, attacked by the Turks, Serbs and Bulgarians, he resolved to unite the Church of the East with that of the West, subjecting it to the pope. When the emperor's men approached the monastery, most of the monks fled to the mountains, but twenty-⁠six withdrew into the monastery's tower, receiving from God the announcement that the hour had come to win the martyr's crown. The soldiers set fire to the tower, and the monks died glorifying God. The monastery keeps their veneration, with a monument to the twenty-⁠six martyrs. In 1873 a wonder took place at their feast, linked with the icon of the Mother of God called “Akathist”, the Forerunner.