Theodore of Ajara

Holy Hieromartyr Theodore of Ajara belongs to the glorious multitude of the faithful of Ajara who were martyred at the hands of the Ottomans. He was born in the late eighteenth century, when the Ottoman invaders had nearly completed the forced Islamization of the region. Those who resisted had been annihilated, and those who had accepted Islam in appearance but still aroused suspicion were being evicted. Some left their land and fled to foreign countries.

Theodore was born to a family that had been forced into exile. From childhood he watched his countrymen, who had been forcibly converted to Islam, secretly keep their Christian way of life. It is unclear how the family settled in Trebizond (modern Trabzon), but it is known that Theodore managed to free himself from Islam, receive Christianity and find refuge at a Georgian monastery in Smyrna (now Izmir). There he was tonsured a monk and later raised to the rank of proigoumenos (deputy abbot). During that time he also converted his nephew to Christianity.

In 1822 he set out on a pilgrimage to Mount Athos, but the Ottomans, who were trying to crush the Greek independence movement, had surrounded the Holy Mountain with soldiers. They captured the faithful pilgrim and killed him, and the body of the holy martyr was thrown into the sea. The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church canonized him on 17 October 2002. He is commemorated on 17 February (new style; 2 March on the old calendar).