Memorial Day of Hieromartyr Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople

On April 23, the Orthodox Church celebrates the Day of Remembrance of the Hieromartyr Gregory V, Patriarch of Constantinople It fell to Gregory's lot to become patriarch at the beginning of the 19th century during the years of the Ottoman yoke, when Christians suffered great oppression from the Muslim Turks The holy martyr occupied the patriarchal throne three times The first time this happened in 1797, Gregory immediately began to improve the position and status of the Christian Church, which was in complete decline Educational institutions and printed publications were restored, and the moral spirit of parishioners began to revive The efforts of the patriarch were met with indignation by the Turkish authorities and the objectionable priest was sent into exile to Athos The restoration of Gregory to the Patriarchal throne of Constantinople eight years later also ended in exile The third return of the patriarch took place ten years later in 1819 and led to the monstrous death of the holy martyr The insurgency in Greece caused an increase in the terror of the Turkish authorities against Christians In this situation, Gregory was forced to take care of saving lives among his flock He calls on believers not to show resistance and to honor the Sultan, but Muslims have already declared a holy war on the infidels, and death could touch every Christian at any second The Easter week of 1821 took place almost underground; the Orthodox were afraid to show joy from the great holiday and preferred to hide in their homes And yet Gregory served a solemn service in the church of St George, where hundreds of brave Christians came Despite the fact that Gregory chose the position of condemning the rebel anti-Turkish movement, the authorities of the Ottoman Empire considered the patriarch unreliable The elder was arrested right in the middle of the festive liturgy Realizing his sad fate, Gregory ended the church celebration The arrest was followed by the excommunication of the Patriarchate of Constantinople and the interrogation of the elder about his connections with the leaders of the rebel movement The saint answered the questions with noble silence, after which the torturers decide to resort to torture Representatives of the Ottoman authorities showed incredible cruelty towards the former patriarch; beatings and torture were accompanied by mocking offers to convert to Islam, to which Gregory replied that he would accept death while remaining a Christian After prolonged torture, the elder was sentenced to death by hanging The sentence was carried out in front of the eyes of frightened Christians, weeping at the sight of inhuman cruelty applied to the saint After the execution, the body of the holy martyr was not removed from the noose for another three days The mutilated remains of the saint were thrown into sea waters, where they could have been lost forever But the body was found by Russian sailors and taken to Russia, where it was noticed that the relics did not decay, despite the long stay in the water and on the ship Subsequently, when Greece was freed from the Turkish yoke, the acquired relic was sent to Athens, where Gregory was canonized and the relics were placed in the Annunciation Cathedral