Raphael of Lesvos

St. Raphael the Newly Appeared Martyr of Lesvos (1410 – 9 April 1463) is an Eastern Orthodox saint martyred by Turkish soldiers with his companions Sts. Nicholas and Irene on Bright Tuesday (April 9) of 1463, a decade after the Fall of Constantinople.

Forgotten Martyrs

For almost five centuries the inhabitants of Lesvos would visit the ruins of a monastery near the village of Thermi, northwest of the capital Mytilene, on Bright Tuesday. These people had forgotten the specific reason for the annual pilgrimage but remembered that Turkish soldiers had murdered monks in the old monastery there many years ago.

Discovery of Relics

The devout Angelos Rallis chose to construct a chapel by the monastery ruins in 1959. That July 3, workers found the holy relics of St. Raphael as they cleared rubble, and shortly thereafter St. Raphael, along with Sts. Nicholas and Irene, started appearing to many Lesvos residents and told them the stories of their lives.

Youth

The saint revealed that he was born to devout parents on the island of Ithaca ca. 1410. Though baptized with the name George, he was tonsured Raphael and became a hieromonk, and eventually became Archimandrite and Chancellor.

Later life

The year Constantinople fell, St. Raphael lived in Macedonia with the deacon Nicholas, a Thessaloniki native. The two fled to Lesvos after the 1454 Turkish invasion of Thrace. They ended up in the Monastery of the Nativity of the Theotokos near Thermi, of which St. Raphael became the igumen, or abbot.

Martyrdom

Turkish soldiers invaded Lesvos and raided the monastery, kidnapping St. Raphael and his fellow monks. The twelve-year-old Irene had been tortured, then burned alive in a large earthenware jar in the presence of her parents. The Turks tortured St. Raphael from Holy Thursday until Bright Tuesday, then tied him to a tree and sawed through his jaw, murdering him. Thus St. Raphael received the crown of martyrdom. Saint Nicholas (his deacon) died at the sight of this.

Apparitions and Other Miracles

St. Raphael appeared alone and, on other occasions, with Sts. Nicholas and Irene of Lesvos, expressing to the inhabitants his desire for veneration, an icon painting, and the composition of a church service. Photios Kontoglou painted the icon of the saints based on witness descriptions and Father Gerasimos of the Little St. Anne Skete on Mt. Athos composed the church service for them. There are numerous accounts of miracles worked by St. Raphael and his companions for people who show devotion to the saints. These miracles include supernatural healing of the sick and injured, and the strengthening of faith.