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| St. Elias the Neomartyr (Feast Day - February 27); photo shows the Monastery of Panagia Theoskepastos in Trebizond. |
The Holy Neomartyr Elias was the son of a priest named Constantine and hailed from the village of Kryonero in Trebizond of Pontus, Asia Minor. For reasons unknown to us, he was apprehended by Muslims and underwent extremely painful torture in Molos (Mum Hani) to force him to convert to Islam. Refusing to abandon his faith in Christ, he was sentenced to be hanged in 1749. Christians took up his sacred relics and buried them at the Monastery of Panagia Theoskepastos in Trebizond.