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| Venerable George the New and the Wonderworker in the Diipion (Feast Day - March 11) [Photo shows the Firuz Aga Mosque near the Hippodrome and Hagia Sophia, which is possibly built over the ruins of the Church of Saint John the Theologian in the Diipion.] |
The venerable George lived in the tenth century. According to the Parisian Codex he flourished in the years of Emperor John I Tzimiskes (969-976), but according to the Vienna Codex it was during Constantine VII (913-959) and Romanos Porphyrogenitos (959–963). His memory is also referred to in the Great Lavra Codex.
The venerable George had a wife and children that he abandoned and he would wander from place to place, from the cities to the desert, in discomfort and hardship. During the last seven days of his life he came to Constantinople and took refuge in the Church of Saint John the Theologian in the Diipion, where he reposed in peace. Then those who prepared for his burial saw with surprise that to his body was tied heavy irons, with which he wrapped his entire body. Once they clearly understood from this that this was an ascetic man, they built a stone coffin and buried him in the narthex of the church. That area began to gush myrrh, curing various illnesses and working many miracles.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.