Orthodox Icon of Holy Martyrs of Lazeti

Holy Martyrs of Lazeti

April 29th
Troparion
By their struggle, Thy martyrs have received imperishable crowns from Thee, O Lord. For by acquiring strength from Thee, they demolished usurpers and crushed the powerless might of Satan. Therefore, through their intercessions, O Christ God, save our souls!

Lazeti was once a center for Georgian culture. It was in what is now southwestern Georgia and northeastern Turkey. During the many wars that ravaged Georgia after the fall of Byzantium in 1453, Muslims and Catholics forced many Orthodox Christians to convert. A large group of people of Lazeti refused and stood fast against the constant pressures to deny the Faith. Some three hundred Laz warriors and the clergy of a local monastery were beheaded on Mt. Dudikvati & Mt. Papati between 1600 and 1620. Many of the descendents of those that converted then have returned to the Faith and recounted the stories of the Holy Martyrs of Lazeti. Based on those stories, the Holy Synod of the Georgian Church proclaimed that all those faithful killed at the hands of the Ottomans for their faith to be numbered amoung the saints. They were canonized on September 18, 2003.

This Icon is by the hand of Lasha Kintsurashvili. The inscription is in Georgian.

Order # lkg-13