The Passion of St. Michael the Martyr

St. Michael the Martyr was a native of Edessa, a city in northern Mesopotamia, and the son of Christian parents, who, when he died, distributed his inheritance to the poor and went to Jerusalem to visit the holy places.

After worshipping the holy places, he retired to the monastery of St. Sava [his life was on December 5] and became a monk there.

He was met by a eunuch of the Muslim queen Seida, who took him with him, for the vessels he sold were very beautiful and well made, and brought him to his queen.

And the queen made the holy man to do wickedly, as also the wife of Pentiphora made Joseph the fair in Egypt to do wickedly; but Michael the righteous would not consent to the wickedness, but said,

And when she saw that the virgin would not consent to her lawlessness, she was ashamed and wroth, and sent her servants to the king, who was at Jerusalem, and sent him as a blasphemer.

The king asked the saint, ordered him to be loosed, and persuaded him to convert to Islam. The saint said to the king, "It is impossible for me to abandon my God and follow the devil".

"One of three things I ask of you", said the saint, "either let me go to my teacher, or be baptized in the name of my God, or by the sword turn me away to Christ, my God". But the king ordered that the holy cup be given to the saint with deadly poison.

The disgraced king ordered the head of Christ's slave to be cut off with a sword in the middle of Jerusalem. The monks of the monastery of Saint Sava took the body of the holy martyr, carried it to their laurel and buried the martyr with the holy fathers, praising Christ God, who is wonderful in his saints.