Saints: A World-full From the West, Asia, & Africa

1. Saints: A World-fullFrom the West, Asia, & Africa

2. Georgia

3. St. Razhden, Protomartyr (+457) • Persian servant of King Vakhtang’s wife • Converted to Christianity from Zoroastrianism & became military adviser; fought bravely • The attacking King Peroz ordered that he be taken captive (on account of his being a Persian convert to Christianity) • He refused to deny his new-found faith and was beaten cruelly, imprisoned, and when he still would not relent, was crucified and used for target practice

4. St. Vakhtang (†502) • Became King of Kartli at 15 • Kingdom of Central/Eastern Georgia • Fought to protect fellow Georgian Kingdoms (against attacks from Osettians & Byzantines) • Very tall (7ft. 10in) but also remarkable in his faith, wisdom, grace, and kindness to the poor • He helped gain autocephaly (self-rule) for the Orthodox Church of Georgia • He also founded the capital of Tbilis

5. St. Tamara – “King of Georgia” (+1213) • Born 1166, daughter of King Giorgi II • Only woman to reign as “King” of Georgia • No male heir & reigned in father’s stead after his death • Invited the clergy to judge righteously and condemn evil, saying that even she should be rebuked if needed • Led her army to the gates against a joint Muslim military campaign in 1195; routed the enemy at Basiani • Fasted strictly & slept on a stone bed; prayed most of the night every night for her church and country while making clothes for the poor • Abolished the death penalty and bodily torture

6. 100,000 Martyrs of Tbilisi (+1227) • 1227 - Sultan Jalal al-Din of Khwarazm and the Turkmen attacked Georgia • The Georgians fended them off on the first day, but local Persians opened the gates and let the invaders in • Icons from Sioni Cathedral were taken to the bridge across the Mtkvari River; citizens were forced to come to them • Told: “Spit & live” or “Kiss & die” • 100,000 Georgians refused to mock or spit on the icons, instead, sacrificing their lives in order to venerating them

7. Holy Great-Martyr Queen Ketevan(1624) • Queen of Kakheti (E. Georgian Kingdom) • King David I died and his father Alexander II assumed the throne • Ketevan & David’s children were young • Constantine I, David’s brother, and a Muslim, killed the King, but died also • Ketevan tried to negotiate with the Shah (Abbas I) in Iran to no avail; she offered herself as a hostage in failed hopes of preventing attacks on her kingdom. • She was taken prisoner, and her grandsons (Alexandre and Levan) were tortured and castrated • She refused to convert to Islam or marry the Shah, so she was tortured to death in Shiraz, Iran; said to be a primary reason for the continue Christianity of Georgia

8. HieromartyrGrigol (Peradze) [+1942]Glory to God for all things • Born in Bakurtsikhe (Kakheti) 1899, priest’s son • Graduated seminary in 1918, teaching at Tbilisi University in 1921; sent to Berlinto study theology • Transferred to Bonn; received his PhD • Thesis: “The Monastic Life in Georgia: from it’s origins to 1064” • Tonsured Monk & Ordained a Priest, became chair of Orthodox Theology at Warsaw U. • Arrested in 1942 by Gestapo for sheltering/aiding Jews – deported to Auschwitz • At the camp, an inmate killed a Nazi guard, so they took the whole camp outside in the freezing cold naked until someone confessed; • He took the blame to save others & was burnt alive by the Nazi guards.

9. All Holy Martyrs’ Church - Beijing 222 Chinese Martyrs buried under the altar in 1903 Church wasdestroyed by Soviets in 1957

10. The Holy Martyrs of the Boxer Rebellion

11. St. Mitrophan – Hieromartyr of Beijing (1900) • Born, Chang Yangji 1855 • Raised by mother & grandparents • Parents Chinese Orthodox Christians • Ordained at age 25 by Nikolai of Japan • First Chinese priest in Church of China • He served for 15 years as not only a priest, but translator and editor of books for the Orthodox Church in China, suffering insults & hurt from his own people and outsiders • In 1900, during the Boxer Uprising, the mission was burned and many (including those who insulted Fr. Mitrophan) hid with him at his house. • Later, Chinese soldiers & Boxers found him and those hiding with him; most were killed

12. Holy Family of St. Mitrophan • Mat. Tatiana was saved from the Boxers with help from her daughter-in-law, but was found the following morning along with 19 others and sent to a camp before later being executed. • Ioann(John) their youngest son was only eight years old when he saw his father be killed; Boxers slashed the child’s shoulders and chopped off his nose, ears, and toes. His aunt managed to save him from death by hiding him in a latrine. In the morning he sat at the entrance without clothes and shoes, and when people asked "Are you hurting?" he answered “It doesn't hurt." Shortly thereafter, he reposed. • Their older sons, Isaiah & Fr. Sergiy were both martyred as well, despite Isaiah’s 20+ service in the military

13. St. Ia the Twice-Martyred • Head teacher at the Orthodox Mission School, • Arrested on June 10th , 1900 • Severally slashed and beaten to near death and buried alive. • A non-Christian sympathetic to her suffering, dug her up and took her to his home; nursing her back to health • The Boxers, finding out Ia was still alive, arrested her yet again, and tortured her until her death, • Died w/ the Name of Christ on her lips

14. The Samurai Priest(+1913) • St. Nikolai Kasatkin (Nikolai of Japan) served in the mid-to-late 1800s • Time when foreigners were despised and distrusted; evangelism illegal • St. Nikolai was confronted by a samurai warrior and Shinto priest named Takuma Sawabe, armed w/ a katana to kill him • He asked, “Why would you kill me without hearing what I had to say?” • They began a calm and polite conversation in Japanese, over many days • The Samurai-Warrior-Priest was baptized some months later, alongside two of his friends, taking the name Paul; they were the first Japanese converts to Christianity • Paul was later ordained, the 1st native Japanese Orthodox Priest, and served for decades until his death in 1913 Fr. Paul Sawabe (+1913)