St. Avakum the Deacon of Belgrade, Serbia, with St. Paisius the Abbot and their fellow martyrs (+1815).

St. Avakum the Deacon of Belgrade, Serbia, with St. Paisius the Abbot and their fellow martyrs (+1815). They lived under Turkish occupation and, after an unsuccessful revolt, were sentenced to die by impalement, being forced to carry their own stakes to the place of execution. St. Avakum’s mother, as shown in the attached icon, met him in the road and begged him to feign conversion to Islam, which would have saved his life. To this the holy one responded by thanking his mother for giving birth to and raising him, but not for her soul-destroying advice, saying: “A Serb belongs to Christ, and he awaits death with joy!” 

St. Paisius gave glory to God to the very end, shouting “Slava Bogu” even as the stake with his body on it was set into the ground. As for St. Avakum, he so impressed the Turks with his steadfastness that they spared him impalement, decapitating him instead. The memory of these superhumanly brave martyrs has been an inspiration to the Serbian people and all Orthodox Christians ever since. May we have their prayers - and even a fraction of their courage!