Monastic Martyr Gerasimus the New of Carpenision
There was a young man from the village of Megalo Chorio at Karpenesi (Karpenḗsi) whose name was George. At the age of eleven, he went to Constantinople and lived with a relative who was a grocer.
One day, he was carrying a copper tray on his head containing yogurt in clay pots. Suddenly he slipped, dropping the tray with the cans, and everything was broken. As he stood crying in the street, a Moslem woman saw him from her window and brought him to her home, giving him sympathy and comfort.
While George was in the house, the woman's husband was preparing his two sons for circumcision. In appreciation for their hospitality, George agreed to be circumcised as well, when the husband suggested it. The man agreed to adopt George and promised to let him visit his former home whenever he wished.
So George became a Moslem and remained in that household for two years. Then the husband became suspicious of his wife's attraction to George. Therefore, he gave him to a Moslem official and George accompanied him to Bulgaria and Bosnia before returning to Constantinople.
After a while, George repented of his sin of apostasy, and returned to his village of Megalo Chorio. He remained there for three years, faithfully attending Church Services. When he learned that a monk named Gerasimos (Gerásimos) was returning to the Holy Mountain, George decided to go with him. There George went to the Skete of Saint Panteleimon, where the Elder Cyril agreed to become his Spiritual Father.
George's Elder taught him to pray properly, and gave him a Rule to follow, which included reading the New Martyrologion by Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite. A year later, George was tonsured with the monastic name Gerasimos. Three years later, Father Gerasimos asked for his Elder's blessing to become a martyr. The Elder told him that his request was premature. Another three years passed, and Father Gerasimos spent his time visiting several of the Athonite monasteries.
Then Gerasimos asked for the Elder's blessing to visit his mother and other relatives. This was granted. But instead of returning to Megalo Chorio, he went to Constantinople to his Moslem stepfather's home. There he confronted him, saying that when he was young and naive, he had been tricked into being circumcised.
The Saint said, "Now I have come of age, and I can distinguish the light from the darkness. I confess that I was born as an Orthodox Christian, and I shall die as an Orthodox Christian."
The man was astonished by these words, but he concealed his anger, flattering Gerasimos, and keeping him in his home for three days. He tried offering him wealth and other things, but Gerasimos remained steadfast in the Orthodox Faith.
His Moslem stepfather told him to live somewhere else, but pretend to be a Moslem until he left the city, because otherwise his life would be in danger. "You have been my son," he said, "I feel sorry for you, and I do not want you to die."
Then the Martyr declared that it was not possible for him to do that. Instead, he would proclaim his Christian Faith in public. Gerasimos was turned over to Moslem officials, who beat him with whips, but the Saint glorified God, and reviled his tormentors.
The Martyr was thrown into prison, where the torments continued for several days. Saint Gerasimos was sentenced to death, and even on the way to his execution, they still tried to make him deny Christ. When they arrived at the place of execution, the Martyr knelt and deliberately faced east. The executioner noticed this and turned him around. Then Saint Gerasimos turned to the east again. The executioner became so angry that he took his sword and beheaded him on July 3, 1812 at Baba Humai in Constantinople. He was 25 years old at the time.
The Saint's relics were first buried on the island of Proti. later they were transferred to the Holy Prousos Monastery, and from there in 1971 to the majestic church bearing his name in the village of Megalo Chorio.
The Saint's skull and arms are located in the Monastery of Prousos in Euritania. The rest of his relics are located in the church of Megalo Chorio, Euritania. Three vertebrae are located in the cathedral church of Koutloumousiou Skete on Mount Athos.