The Saracen. A miracle of St. George

A STRANGE MIRACLE OF
The Holy Great Martyr George

Concerning the Saracen who saw the vision in the Saint's sacred Temple


ST. GEORGE THE GREAT MARTYR AND TROPHY-BEARER. Fresco by the late Photios Kontoglou of blessed memory, who presented it to Holy Transfiguration Monastery, Boston, Mass. Courtesy of the Monastery.


THE EMIR OF SYRIA once sent his nephew to Diospolis (which the Saracens call Ramel; in order to look into certain matters of that place. In this city there is a marvelous temple of Saint George. The Saracen saw it from afar and commanded his servants to transfer his baggage up to the catechumenate of that temple. There, after he had stopped to rest, he ordered that they bring in even his twelve camels. The priests of the temple begged him not to do this wicked thing; but he threatened them, and commanded that the camels be brought in. Immediately, however, as they were leading the camels into the temple, all of them – Oh, the wonder! – fell down and died. When the nephew of the Emir saw this miracle, he marvelled at the great power of Saint George and gave orders that they drag the camels out of the temple.

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1. This is the present Ramallah, a city not far from Jerusalem on the way down from Damascus. To this day the Orthodox have a great church there dedicated to St George.


The next day, when the priest came to liturgize, the Saracen watched to see what he would do. But our man-befriending God opened the eyes of his mind and revealed unto him this truly strange thing. That is to say, while the priest was preparing the Holy Gifts, the Saracen saw that he killed an Infant and emptied its Blood into the Holy Chalice and that after he had cut the body to pieces, he placed it on the sacred paten. After the communion hymn was finished, he saw that the priest gave the Flesh and the Blood of the Child to the people, and he marvelled. After the Divine Liturgy, the priest took the best of those prosphoras which had not been used during the Liturgy and gave them to the Saracen. He asked the priest, "What are these?" And the priest answered him, "My efendi,"1 these are some of the offerings with which we serve the Liturgy in our Church." Then the Saracen said to him with anger, "You served your liturgy with these today? Did I not see you killing a child and pouring its blood into the cup? Did you not cut its body to pieces and put them on the round tray and give them to the people? Do you think that I did not see these things that you did, you vile murderer?"

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1. Efendi: an Arabic word derived from the Greek aftbendis, meaning 'lord' or 'master."


Hearing these things, the priest was terrified and said to the Saracen, "The Lord be glorified, Who has deemed you worthy, my efendi, to behold this terrible Mystery. From this I believe that you are great in the sight of God, and that God has numbered you among the saved." Amazed at the words of the priest, the Saracen said, "Are not, then, these things exactly even as I have seen them?" The priest answered, "Yea, my efendi, they are so and thus do we believe: that that bread and wine which we offer in our Liturgy are the Body and Blood of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. Yet I have never been deemed worthy to behold this, for I am a sinner; but all I see before me is bread and wine. And because my Lord and God has deemed you worthy, my effendi, to behold such a Mystery, I believe that you are great before God, because the great Fathers of our Church, as ones most worthy, beheld this wondrous Mystery."

Hearing these things and marvelling greatly, the Saracen bowed his head and thought for a long time. Afterward, as though awakening from sleep he came to himself, and after he had ordered his servants to go out, he said to the priest, "As I see and am informed, the faith of the Christians is true, and woe unto me who have passed my life in falsehood and vanity, in the religion of the Saracens, which is truly unclean. But since it is the will of God that I be saved, baptize me, that, at least from henceforth, I may serve God with a clean conscience." The priest told him, "I do not dare to baptize you, my efendi, because your uncle is a king, and if he learns of this he will both kill me and destroy the churches. Only, if you wish, depart from here secretly and go to the Patriarch of Jerusalem without revealing to him who you are and he will baptize you."

Then the Saracen found a garment of hair, and clothing himself with this one night he left secretly. Reaching Jerusalem, he went to the Patriarch and falling at his feet, he besought him to baptize him. After he had been baptized and eight days had passed, he said to the Patriarch, "Behold, that by divine grace, I have become a Christian; therefore, what must I do to be saved?" The Patriarch told him, "If you wish to be saved, go to the Mount of Sinai where there are found pious and virtuous monks, and become a monk, and keep the commandments of God. Thus you will be saved." Thereupon he went to Mount Sinai and became a monk. Having stayed there three years, he attained a great height of virtue. Afterwards he begged the Abbot to grant him permission to go to Ramel. When he received permission and had gone to that city, he went into the temple of St. George, where he met that God-fearing priest.

When he revealed to him who he was, he told him, "Behold, that by Divine grace and through your acceptable supplications, I became a Christian and a monk. However, I have a great desire to see the Lord Jesus Christ, and I beseech you fervently to fulfill my desire."

Then the priest glorified God and said, "Go to your uncle, the Emir, and in the presence of him and all the Saracens, confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God and true God, the Creator of all creation, and that he became man and worked great miracles in the world and was crucified and buried and arose on the third day and ascended unto the heavens with glory. If you do this, you will with great audience behold the Lord."

Being persuaded, therefore, by those divine words of that pious priest, that praiseworthy monk set out immediately and went to the city where his uncle was. When night came he went up to the minaret of their mosque and began shouting, "Quickly come here, O ye Saracens, for I have a word to say to you." Hearing these things, they ran with torches, and seeing the monk they asked him what he had to tell them. And the monk said to them, "What do you ask me to tell you? Where is the nephew of the Emir – the one that fled secretly?" They told him, "If by chance you know and tell us we will give you as much money as you desire." And the monk answered, "Take me to the Emir so that I may tell you." Then they seized him and brought him to the Emir with joy, saying, "This monk knows where your nephew is." The Emir asked him if, in truth, he knew, and the monk replied, "Yea, I know. I am he. But now I am a Christian, and I believe in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the One Godhead; and I confess that the Son of God became incarnate of the Ever-Virgin Mary, and worked great miracles in the world and was crucified and arose on the third day and ascended into the heavens and sits at the right hand of God the Father, and is about to come again to judge the living and the dead."

Hearing these things, his uncle, the Emir, was astonished and said, "What happened to you, O hapless one, that you abandoned your family, your wealth and your glory, and walk about thus, scorned like some beggar? Return to your religion and profess the prophet Mahomet and you will again receive your former rank." But the monk replied, "As many goods as I had then when I was a Saracen, they were all the devil's portion. This garment of hair which I wear now is my boast and my wealth and the earnest of the glory which I will enjoy because of my true faith in Christ. As for Mahomet, who led you astray, I anathematize his religion and renounce him."

The Emir, however, felt sorry for him and said to the Saracens that were there present, "He has lost his wits and does not know what he is saying. Throw him out and chase him away." But they told him, "You release him that has anathematized our Prophet and our religion? He is worthy of ten thousand deaths. Then we also, therefore, must renounce our religion and become Christians." Then the Emir, fearing lest they should be aroused even more so against him, gave them permission to do whatever they wished with him. Gnashing their teeth, they seized that blessed monk. When they had led him outside the city, they stoned him while he called upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thus was that renowned one perfected in the good confession and went with boldness unto the Lord Whom he had longed for, and received the crown of Martyrdom.

For a great length of time, a radiant star appeared every night above that heap of rocks and would illumine that whole area. Seeing this, the Saracens marvelled. When some time had passed, the Emir gave the Christians permission to take the holy remains of the Martyr from under the pile of stones and, – Oh, the wonder! – his body was found intact, incorrupt and exceedingly fragrant. Kissing and embracing it with reverence, they buried it with hymns and psalmody, glorifying our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be the glory and the dominion unto the ages. Amen.