Georg von Ioannina

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Hl. Georg von Ioannina (zeitgen. Ikone von Konstantinos Yiannakis)
Ikone des Hl. Georg von Ioannina

Gedenktag: 17. Januar

Der Neumärtyrer George von Ioannina (geb. 1808 in Tsourchli Griechenland, † 1838) war ein junger Christ, der nicht zum Islam konvertierte sondern das Martyrium erlitt.

Leben

Der Hl. Georg wurde 1808 in Tsourchli (heute im Regionalbezirk Grevena, Westmakedonien) geboren als Sohn der armen Bauern Constantin und seiner Frau Vasilo. Schon als kleines Kind wurde er Waise. Ohne Schulausbildung ging er nach Ioannina und wurde Diener in der türkischen Armee. Dort arbeitete er als Pferdeknecht und Stalljunge unter dem Namen "Ungläubiger (Giaour) Hasan". Sein bescheidenes Verhalten zeigte sich darin, dass er den traditionellen langen weißen Rock (Foustanela) seiner Heimatstadt trug und darüber eine verziehrte Weste.

George entered into a new phase in his life as he became engaged to and then married to Eleni, a Christian girl from Ioannina, on the feast day of St. Demetrius. In December 1837, the couple had a son, John who they had baptized according to the Orthodox tradition on January 7, 1838. These events aroused the suspicion of the Islamic Turks and provoked his persecution as the Turks had considered him a muslim Turk who was abandoning Islam.

George refused to deny his Christian faith and he was subjected to torture by the Turk. During the tortures he courageously maintained, "I was never a Turk, I was always a Christian". Sentenced to the gallows, George steadfastly defended his faith. Facing the gallows with composure and bravery, George answered his tormentors' final question to him "What are you?". After he had asked that his hands be untied, he made the sign of the cross and replied, "I am a Christian and I shall die a Christian, I bow before my Christ and my Lady Theotokos.” His martyrdom occurred on January 17, 1838.

His body was left to hang from the gallows for three days. When taken down, his body was found not having begun decaying, which caused even many Turks to believe in his holiness and allowed George's body to be buried honorably.

The people began to honor George as a saint even as he was being tortured, and soon after his death asked for formal recognition of George as a saint from the Ecumenical Patriarchate. George of Ioannina, the New Martyr, was officially glorified on September 19, 1839 by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Constantinople. To make his sainthood less obvious to the Turks, the Synod, at the time, asked that it be celebrated on January 17, with St. Anthony.


Ikonographie

Die erste Ikone des Neumärtyrers wurde gezeichnet am 30. Januar 1838, nur wenige Tage nach seinem Martyrium. Sie wurde in Auftrag gegeben von Hieromönch Chrysanthos Lainos, der Georges Geistlicher Vater war. Sie zeigte den Heiligen in seiner traditionellen Kleidung (der lange weiße Foustanela und eine verziehrte Weste), dem Märtyrerkreuz in der rechten Hand und einer Schriftrolle in der Linken.


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