The life of St Pachomius the New Martyr
Pachomius would not, even when his master offered him his own daughter in marriage and an inheritance if he converted; refusing, he was freed instead. Falling gravely ill just before he could leave, he was dressed by his former household in the clothing worn only by Muslims, and word spread that he had renounced Christ after all, though nothing of the kind had happened.
Once well, Pachomius made his way to Mount Athos, set aside the clothes that had wrongly marked him as a convert, and gave himself to monastic life for many years, first under one elder and then another, growing anxious that he might once, in his illness, have denied Christ without knowing it. Unable to rest until this doubt was answered, he returned, with his elder's blessing, to the town of his old slavery, presented himself openly as a Christian, and was soon arrested on the charge of apostasy and reversion. He would not save himself by recanting, and was beheaded on the feast of the Ascension, 1730. His relics were carried to the island of Patmos, where they remain, and a portion returned in time to the Athonite monastery where he had once lived as a monk.
