The Holy Martyr Stamatius.
Commemorated August 16 in the Orthodox Christian Menaion
From the Prologue
He was a villager, born in Volos in Thessaly. When some inhuman Aga collected the imperial tax from the people and left them in a terrible plight, Stamatius went to Constantinople with several companions, to complain to the Vizier. The Sultan's nobles bore Stamatius a grudge for his stern accusation, and they arrested him. They first tried to convert him to Islam by flattery, promising him riches, glory and honour. Then the Turks tortured him and finally beheaded him in front of St Sophia's, in 1680. Thus this soldier of Christ was crowned with the wreath of martyrdom.
From The Prologue From Ochrid by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich
©1985 Lazarica Press, Birmingham UK
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