Ahmet the Calligrapher

Ahmet the Calligrapher was a seventeenth-century Ottoman Empire official venerated as a Christian saint. According to Christian beliefs he converted to Christianity and was martyred on 3 May 1682; thus he is commemorated as a martyr on this day. The only mentions of him are in Christian hagiographies.[2]

Saint

Ahmet the Calligrapher
BornConstantinople
Died3 May 1682
Venerated inEastern Orthodox Church
Feast24 December (Julian calendar), 3 May[1]

Life

Ahmet lived in Constantinople during the 1600s and was an official in the Ottoman Turkish government before his conversion.[3]

Ahmet owned a Russian concubine whom he allowed to attend one of the Greek Orthodox churches in Constantinople. In time Ahmet began to notice that when his Russian concubine returned from church she was far more gracious and loving than she was before going. Intrigued by this, Ahmet obtained permission to attend the Ecumenical Patriarch's celebration of the Divine Liturgy in Constantinople. Due to his status and identity, his request was not refused, and he was given a discreet place at the Church.[3]

During the Divine Liturgy, Ahmet saw that when the Ecumenical Patriarch blessed the faithful with his trikiri and dikiri his fingers 'beamed' light onto the heads of the faithful Christians, but not his own.[3] Amazed by this miracle, Ahmet requested and received Holy Baptism.

Whatever happened during this period, one day a group of arguing officials asked Ahmet for his opinion of their dispute, to which he replied that there is nothing better than the Christian faith.[4]

For this he was put before the Sultan and qadi. After torture and a few chances to return to Islam he was subsequently beheaded on 3 May 1682.[4]

He is celebrated on 24 December/6 January in Eastern Orthodoxy under the name of Christódoulos (Greek: Χριστόδουλος).[5]

Sources
  •  This article incorporates text from a free content work. Licensed under CC-SA 2.5. Text taken from Ahmed the Calligrapher​, Orthodox Wiki, Orthodox Wiki. To learn how to add open license text to Wikipedia articles, please see this how-to page. For information on reusing text from Wikipedia, please see the terms of use.

References
  1. Ὁ Ἅγιος Ἀχμὲτ ὁ Νεομάρτυρας ὁ Κάλφας. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
  2. "SAINT AHMED THE CALLIGRAPHER - ModeOfLife". modeoflife.org. Archived from the original on 17 February 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  3. "About Saint Ahmet (Ahmed)", Greek Boston
  4. "Saint Ahmed the Calligrapher", Pemptousia, 24 December 2016
  5. "ЖИТИЈА СВЕТИХ ЗА ДЕЦЕМБАР – Страна 25 – Светосавље". svetosavlje.org.

Bibliography
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