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August 8, 2019

The Turkish Persecutor of Christians Who Was Healed by Saint Myron of Crete in 1840


In the year 1840 there lived on the island of Crete in the village of Archanes which was in the province of Temenos a certain Turk named Hussein Pasha. He had led the massacre that took place in Heraklion on June 24, 1821, remembered in the area as "the great ravage" ("ο μεγάλος αρπεντές"). One day Hussein Pasha came down with an illness that made him blind. He sought the help of doctors, but nothing could be done for him. In a desperate situation, he turned to some Christians who were friends of his, who urged him to visit the tomb of Saint Myron.

Having no other recourse, Hussein Pasha was led to the tomb of Saint Myron. He entered the church and knelt before the tomb. When the Divine Liturgy began, he continued to kneel before the tomb. During the reading of the Gospel, he suddenly cried out: "To God be the glory and honor to the Holy Elder, I can see!" Forever grateful for the gift of sight granted to him by the grace of Saint Myron, he would visit the Church of Saint Myron annually and make an offering of various gifts until his death in 1859.