Sergius of Zographou

Holy Venerable Martyr Sergius of Zographou was a monk of the Zographou Monastery on the Holy Mountain and died by fire, together with twenty-⁠five other fathers and brethren, on 10 October, between the years 1274 and 1284.

In 1274 Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos concluded a union with Rome, but most Athonite monasteries firmly refused to betray Orthodoxy and reproached those who had abandoned it. For this the Holy Mountain was attacked by Latin troops and mercenaries, who tormented many monks. The Monastery of Zographou, inhabited by Bulgarians, was especially exposed, since the emperor did not wish to turn the Greeks against him and vented his anger on the monasteries of another people. Learning in a wondrous way of the approach of the soldiers, the abbot Thomas told the brethren that whoever wished to survive must flee the monastery, and whoever desired martyrdom must stay. Twenty-⁠six remained: Abbot Thomas, the monks Barsanuphius, Cyril, Micah, Simon, Hilarion, Jacob, another Jacob, Job, Cyprian, Sabbas, Martinian, Cosmas, Sergius, Mina, Joasaph, Joannicius, Paul, Anthony, Euthymius, Dometian, Parthenius, and four lay workers whose names are not known. They shut themselves in the monastery tower.

On their arrival the Latin soldiers set the tower on fire. While it burned, the martyrs of the Lord sang psalms and the akathist to the Mother of God, and so gave up their souls to God on 10 October. He is commemorated on 4 July, a movable date, in the Synaxis of the Athonite Venerable Fathers, in the new style.