George the New Martyr / Saint Neomartys George of Divolis from Folegandros. (From our book: Ascending Saints of the Holy Metropolis of Syros)
The holy neomartyr George was born in Alikianos Kydonias, Crete on 24 May 1846. He was the offspring of pious parents and was brought up with education and the admonition of the Lord. His father's name was Nikolaos Divolis and he was a very pious Priest from Folegandros. His mother's name was Aikaterini Bozianopoula and she was the offspring of a good and noble family from the heroic village of Therissos Kydonias. His priest father also went to his elder's village and served there as vicar of the village parish. The holy neomartyr George did not learn many letters. As soon as he could read and nourish his soul daily with the communions of the saints.
He worked as a farmer all day and after his hard work, at night he read until the early hours of the morning the lives of the saints, having a special love for the martyrs of our Church, as he admired them for their strength and faith. Many times his parents, they urged him to leave the study and rest because he would have a lot of work in the morning, but he was answering "I'm not resting, I don't sleep well either, if first I do not get enough of reading the divine letters".
Once, around the end of it 1865, after reading the life and martyrdom of a great martyr of the church he told us: "Christ, deserve for me to shed my blood for your love". His brother Ioannis was sitting next to him, who was a virgin by birth and listened to the stories that blessed George was reading and told him: "How will this be done since persecution must be declared against Christians";
But Saint George repeated: "My Christ, if it is your will, claim me to shed my blood for your love, as you did for us". His brother heard these words and kept them secret in his heart.
The 1866 the great revolution began in Crete. The holy neomartyr offered his help in the fight for the faith and the country by carrying the secret letters to the leaders of the revolution. On Sunday 5 February 1867 he was in the village of Fourne with many other revolutionaries. So there someone betrayed them to the pasha, and he in turn sent an army surrounded them and captured most of them including Saint George.
The pasha then took two of the arrested and mercilessly tortured them into telling him which village the arrested came from. When he found out, he kept those who were from large villages while the others he sent to Mustafa Pasha in Chania.
Those he kept he punished with inhuman cruelty. First he cut off their noses, then the language, their secret members, hands, the legs, he gouged out their eyes and finally decapitated them.
The time of Saint George has arrived, who at first was treated differently because he was the postman.
An officer led him to Bahri agha, and he said to him: "Come, baby Giorgakis, do a job that I will tell you, to save your life if you want. I've known you since you were little and I'm sorry to see you die". Then the saint asked what work this is and when the aga told him to become a Turk, brave George laughed and said: "I was not born to change my faith, not only if you give me life but also the whole world". Then Bahri agha said to him again: "I wanted to do you this favor because when my brother Arif, he broke his leg, your father healed him".
But the saint remained faithful to the primary position and boldly said: "I am not becoming a Turk, I was born a Christian, I am a Christian and I want to die a Christian". Then after hearing this the aga despaired that he would not be convinced and imprisoned him.
After some time, the soldiers led him back to the aga, but the witness of Christ repeated that: "I was born a Christian and I want to die a Christian". After the aga despaired once more, he handed him over to the executioners, who urged him to drink a bottle of rum. Saint George smilingly answered them that he doesn't want to drink because he has a long way to go and he needs to take care of his brakes. Then his cruel torture began. And while the others were crying out of fear for their lives, he not only did not cry but on the contrary begged them to cut him into more pieces because he said that the more they torture me the more God will glorify him.
So after his hands were cut off, his ears, his nose, his language, his legs and secret limbs, they put out his eyes and at the end they cut off his holy head and he crowned with the indestructible crown of martyrdom, he ascended into the heavenly tabernacles in age 21 years.
Together with the remains of the other men they had killed, the Turks also took the remains of Saint George and hid them in a place that remains unknown to this day.
His memory is commemorated on 7 February.
The Most Reverend p. Petros Maragos
High Priest Commissioner of Mykonos and Delos