Michael of Bourla

Holy New Martyr Michael of Bourla was born in Bourla, in Asia Minor, to a family of craftsmen, and came as a young man to Smyrna, where he worked as a coppersmith. At the age of eighteen, on the first Saturday of Great Lent, he was deceived by a Turkish coffee-⁠seller and denied the faith, and then entered his service in the coffee house.

On the night of the Resurrection he heard people of his own age singing "Christ is risen" and felt the weight of his fall; he left the coffee house and sang with them. He was arrested and next day brought before the judge, to whom he said: if someone is deceived and gives gold in exchange for lead, he is entitled to return the lead and take back his gold. The lead was the Muslim religion, imposed on him by deceit, and the gold was the faith of his fathers. The judges admired the answer, but urged him with flattery and threats to return to Islam; Michael remained firm and was imprisoned. After two days he confessed again and was condemned to death.

He was beheaded in the year 1772, and his body was thrown into the sea. Pious Christian dyers retrieved it and buried it with honour in the church of Saint Photini in Smyrna. He is commemorated on 16 April.