Michael of Smyrna

Michael von Smyrna or Michael von Bourla or Michael Burlites (* around 1754 in Urla ; † 1772 in Smyrna ) is a new martyr of the Orthodox Church . He is venerated there as a saint . His feast day is April 16 .

Life

Michael was born into a Christian family in Bourla (Greek Βουρλά "Vourla" , i.e. marshland ) in the Gulf of Izmir . The Turkish name of his place of birth is Urla.

At the age of 18 he had to hire a Turkish coppersmith. With this Muslim it was impossible for him to keep his Christian fasting times. On the day of Easter he heard the chants of the Christians and left the workshop to go to church.

The next day, he went to the Islamic judge to explain that he would not deny or abandon the religion of his fathers. All attempts to change his mind failed. Michael was thrown in jail and interrogated again two days later. When he was still indomitable, the Muslim judge sentenced him to death, which Michael welcomed. He was beheaded and thrown into the sea after three days. Christians from around Smyrna found his body and buried him in the church of St. Photina .

Legend

After his beheading, Michael's body is said to have remained snow-white for three days.

literature

• The Synaxarion - the Lives of the Saints of the Orthodox Church. In 2 volumes. Based on the 6-volume edition of the Holy Monastery of Simonos Petra. Second volume. March to August. , Monastery of St. John the Forerunner, Chania (Crete) 2006, ISBN 960-88698-0-3 , p. 198
• Nikolaj Velimirović : The prologue of Ohrid. Verlag Johannes A. Wolf, Apelern 2009, ISBN 978-3-937912-04-2 , p. 251

Web links

• Joachim Schäfer: Article on April 16, from the Ecumenical Lexicon of Saints (accessed on April 16, 2015)
• Article on April 16 at orthpedia (accessed April 17, 2015)