Paul the Russian

Holy Martyr Paul the Russian was a Russian, taken captive by the Tatars, and received martyrdom from the Turks, on Great Friday of the year 1683, at Constantinople.

In youth he was carried off by the Tatars into captivity in the Crimea, then sold at Constantinople. After hard labor he won his freedom and married a Russian girl, also held captive. From the hard labor in bondage he fell ill with the falling sickness. His wife and Christian neighbors decided to take him to the church of the Mother of God of Muglun, where sick people of his kind received healing. In the fits of the illness Paul resisted and cried out: "I am a Hagarene, I have become a Hagarene." The Turks, angry that Christians were forcibly leading into a church a man who had accepted Islam, reported it to the vizier. The vizier summoned him, and he appeared already healthy. At the interrogation he firmly confessed himself a Christian and, strengthened by his wife, did not bend to the threats of the Muslims. On Great Friday of the year 1683 his head was cut off for faith in Christ. His wife was also tortured, but was released from prison on ransom.

Saint Paul is commemorated on 19 April, in the new style.