On February 7, our church commemorates the memory of Saint Neomartyr George Divolis from Alikianos, Kydonia, Crete, and from Padre Folegandrio. Two chapels dedicated to Saint George are found in Greece, one in the place where he was born and lived, in Alikianos, Chania, and the second in his place of origin, in Folegandros, Cyclades, in the village of Ano Meria. The first of these is tri-substantial, Saint George is hosted in the central aisle of the church, which also hosts Saint Stylianos and Saint Sophia with her daughters Love, Faith and Hope, in the side aisles, while the second is bi-substantial, also dedicated to Saint Methodius of Kimolos, with founders the Protopresbyter Fr. Panagiotis Marinakis and his late presbyter Maria Marinaki.
The following is the life of Saint George Divolis, which comes from his hymnal service, which was "composed on Mount Athos by the Monk Gerasimos of Mikragiannanitos, Hymnographer of the Great Church of Christ, and published by the Metropolitan of Kydonia and Apokoronas Nikephoros in Athens, in 1964."
Saint George the New Martyr of Christ was born in Crete, in the province of Kydonia and in the village of Alikianos, on May 24, 1846, to noble parents, the priest Nikolaos Divolis, who was born and raised on the island of Folegandros, and Catherine Bouzianopoula, née Krissa, from the province of Kydonia, from the noblest family of the historical and heroic village of Therissos, to which his father also went as a vicar, where the blessed George was raised "in the education and admonition of the Lord", and he learned a few letters, but so few that he could barely read. And yet those few things benefited him greatly, as we will see below. This glorious New Martyr of Christ worked as a farmer. All day long, working the land and planting a vineyard, he would sit after dinner and read the synaxaria of the Saints of our Orthodoxy and he particularly loved to read about the Holy Martyrs. He did this every night, from vespers until midnight. Seeing him staying up all night, his parents would say to him: “My child, you must sleep, rest, because tomorrow you have work again.” And that blessed one would answer them: “I do not rest nor sleep pleasantly, unless I first have my fill of divine reading.”
At the end of 1865, one evening, he read the life of a great Martyr, a Saint, and his heart was filled with divine love, he sighed deeply and said with devoutness: “My Christ, make me worthy to shed my blood for your love.” His brother John, who was blind and always sat with him listening to the reading, rebuked him and said to him: “What are you saying there, my brother? Don’t you know that in order for what you said to happen, persecution must arise against Christians? You and many others will be able to endure martyrdom and benefit, but how many will deny our Christ and be lost?” To these words, blessed George did not respond. But he sighed and again said deeply: “Yes, my Christ, if it is your will, make me worthy to shed my blood for your love, just as you shed your blood for my love.” And his brother, hearing these words, said nothing more like them, but kept his words secret in his heart. (…)
Then the soldiers led the Saint before the Aga, who asked him what he had decided. The brave soldier of Christ replied with joy and courage: “What I told you before, I tell you now and I will say this until my last breath. That is, that I was born a Christian, I am a Christian and I want to die a Christian. I do not deny my Christ, I do not become a Turk, I do not leave my glorious Faith to believe in your most vivid and darkest satanic error.” So, completely desperate, the Bahri Aga handed the Saint over to the executioners, who urged him to drink a bottle of rum, but he laughed and told them “thank you, I do not want to drink rum, because I have a long way to go and I must keep my wits about me.” Then they began to abuse him, as well as the others.
And as they abused and tortured him, the other Christians wept and mourned, one for his life, another for his wife and children, this blessed one stood as hewn as a stone and not only did he not cry out but he did not even sigh or shed tears. On the contrary, the worthy son of the heroic Megalonisos rejoiced as if he were standing as a bridegroom at the time of his coronation and glorified God and thanked Him for having made him worthy to reach this hour and to suffer for His love. He also thanked the executioners because with his martyrdom they caused great glory and joy, with these few pains. He begged them to increase his suffering because, as he said, the more he suffers for the love of Christ, the more honor he will receive from God. And as we said before, he received the same tortures as the others. After first they cut off all his limbs, finally they cut off his honorable head, and thus the blessed and valiant Kris received the crown of martyrdom, on February 7, 1867.
His holy soul ascended to heaven to receive from the race-maker Christ the rewards of his glorious victory, of Orthodox confession and of steadfast sportsmanship from the King of Kings. The Agareans united his honest and holy relic with the other relics of the Christians who had been killed before him and threw them all together in a place unknown to this day.”
