Christ is Risen!
(Source) St. Isidore the Martyr of Chios:
During the reign of Decius, Isidore was drafted by force from the island of Chios into military service. From childhood, Isidore adhered to the Faith of Christ and spent his entire life in fasting, prayer and good works. But when in the army Isidore declared himself a Christian, the commander seized him, required of him an answer and counseled him to deny Christ and offer sacrifices to the idols. The saint replied: “Even if you kill my body, you have no authority over my soul. I possess the True, Living God, Jesus Christ Who now lives in me and after my death, He will be with me and I am in Him and will remain in Him and I will never cease to confess His Holy Name as long as my soul is in my body.” First, the commander ordered that Isidore be whipped with oxen tails and after that they cut out his tongue. Even without his tongue, Isidore, by the Spirit of God, spoke and confessed the Name of Christ. Meanwhile, the punishment of God came upon the commander and he, suddenly, became mute. Finally, the mute commander gave the sign to behead Isidore. Isidore was elated at this sentence and after praising God went to the scaffold where he was beheaded in the year 251 A.D. His companion, Ammon buried his body and following that also suffered and received the martyr’s wreath.
Dear matushka, Christ is risen indeed!!! And we are really blessed exactly for this reason alone! Thank you so much for your post on St. Isidoros of Chios island. We celebrate our second son;’s nameday on this feast and although we know the senaxarion of the St. it was so lovely to see it posted. There is a legend in Chios actually about St. Isisdoros. When he confessed his faith he suffered many martyrdoms one of which was him being tide from the legs behind wild horses who were forced to run on the wild rocky countryside of the island. The body of the St. was bleeding uncontrollably and the story goes that wherever his holly blood was shed that is where grew the mastc trees unique in the Chios island. Their raisin whids sheds like tears is very therapeutic for many ailments, very fragrant and used for incense in church as well. And all these because of the holy martyr Isidoros!!!
Thank you for this opportunity
With love in our Risen Lord Jesus Christ presbytera Kalli