Saint Isidoros who was martyred in Chios
Date of celebration: 14/05
Agios Isidoros was a sailor of the royal fleet, in the years of the emperor Decius, and he came from Alexandria.
One day when the squadron of the fleet was anchored at Chios, it was reported by the centurion Julius to Admiral Numerius that Isidore is a Christian. Numerius soon heard the same from Isidore himself, when he invited him to confess. Then they beat him severely and then threw him into prison.
As soon as his father learned of this fact, he immediately set out for Chios, very distressed, because his son had abandoned the ancestral pagan religion. When he arrived in Chios, he had no difficulty seeing his son. Isidoros, as soon as he saw his father, embraced him with great reverence and affection, moved. So did his father, but he soon expressed his sorrow for him as well. Isidore told him that he should probably be happy, because he saw the light offered by Jesus Christ. His father earnestly begged him to return to paganism, but Isidore remained steadfast in his faith. Then, enraged, he cursed him and urged Numerius to kill him as soon as possible. And indeed, Isidore after various tortures was beheaded. Thus, the word of the Lord is verified, that “he will deliver the father and son to death” (Matthew 1:21). In other words, it will not be only the foreigners against the fighting Christians, but also the people of their home. And the unfaithful father will deliver his faithful child to death.
His holy remains were thrown into a gorge, to be eaten by the vultures, and a few soldiers guarded there, lest the Christians should come and take the body. But a Christian woman, named Myropi (see December 2), came at night and with the help of two maids, at the time when the soldiers had fallen and were quiet, took the holy relic, which she buried. The next day, Numerius was informed that the Martyr’s relic had been taken. He assumed that the soldiers were enticed with money and gifts and allowed the Christians to receive the body of the Saint. That is why he imprisoned them, while at the same time spreading the news that he would kill them if they did not tell him to whom they had delivered the relic. Myropi decided that it would be unfair to execute the soldiers. Therefore he presented himself to Numerius and declared to him the truth. He ordered her to be imprisoned. After her martyrdom, the Christians reverently buried the remains of the Parthenomartyros near the tomb where she had previously deposited that of Saint Isidore.
The existence of the Relics of Agios Isidoros in Chios is already witnessed in the 6th century AD. by the hagiologist Grigorio Turonis. Previously, in the 5th century AD, Saint Markianos, Steward of the Hagia Sophia of Constantinople (see January 10), had transferred the Kara and part of the Relics of the Martyr to Vasilevousa, which he deposited in a chapel of the Church of the Virgin Mary in Peran. The remaining Relics of the Martyr were removed from Chios in 1125 AD, with the help of the Venetian Fleet, by the Greek-speaking Latin Cleric Cebrano Cebrani, on the occasion of a military mission to the East by Doge Dominic Michiel. On May 1, 1356 AD the Relics of the Martyr were deposited in a Chapel in his honor, inside the Cathedral of Saint Mark.
On September 17, 1626 AD the Saint’s Chariot was stolen from Turkish-occupied Constantinople with the help of a local Christian, who was handsomely paid by the Venetian authorities. Cara arrived in Venice on March 1, 1627 AD. and was deposited in the Treasury of Saint Mark.
