George El Mozahem | |
|---|---|
 دير الأنبا إبرام 15 | |
| Martyr | |
| Born | 940 Talkha,Egypt |
| Died | 26 June 969 Egypt |
| Venerated in | Coptic Orthodox Church |
| Feast | 26 June (19Paoni) |
George El Mozahem (Coptic:ⲅⲉⲱⲣⲅⲓⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲍⲟϩⲉⲙ; 940 – June 26, 969[1]) is aCoptic Orthodoxmartyr andsaint.
Born inTalkha,Egypt, as El-Mozahem to a Christian mother (Mary) and a Muslim father (Jumaa Al Atawy), He was raised in his father's religion until he reached the age of twelve.[2][3] He used to go to church with his mother until he told her that he wanted to receive the holy sacraments of the Eucharist, She however told him that he could not unless he wasbaptized, and when he asked her to taste the blessedEulogia bread (Qorban) he received it. It tasted sweet and he said "If the taste of this bread that was not consecrated by prayers tastes like this, what will be the taste of the Offering?" according to hishagiography.[4] He tried to get baptized but priests were afraid of participating in such a dangerous act so he baptized himself by immersing himself three times. He later married a Christian woman and when he told her about his story she told him that his baptism was not accurate.[5] They both fled to a city called Samanoud where he got baptized and was given a Christian name, George,[6] because that day of his baptism was the feast ofSaint George.
He and his wife lived together without any kind of marital relationship; then he was thinking of becoming amonk but he heard a voice telling him not to go to amonastery and encouraged him to seek martyrdom instead, He later was arrested for leavingIslam; he was burned but miraculously survived without harm, The governor of the area was very impressed and thought of freeing him but the people got angry and wanted to kill the governor, After the execution his wife received his relics, however some Muslims tried to set his body on fire but it did not happen because God did not allow it, according to his hagiography.[7][8][9]
