Saint Lazar was a native of the village of Debel Dyal, 14 kilometers from the town of Gabrovo
Alexandra was the wife of Emperor Diocletian and she witnessed the torture to which the Great Martyr George was subjected and the miracle of his healing from the torture wounds. She became convinced that the God in whom the martyr believed was real and that He performed wonderful miracles for His worshippers. Therefore, she admitted that this is the true God and wanted to confess her faith in Jesus Christ to everyone.
When Diocletian learned of this unexpected conversion of his wife to Christianity, which he had for years sought to destroy, he was overcome with great rage. Unable to contain his anger, the emperor immediately issued a death sentence: his own wife’s head should be cut off with a sword. As she went to the place of punishment, Empress Alexandra prayed fervently. On the way, she knelt down and quietly gave her soul to God.
Saint Lazar was a native of the village of Debel Dyal, 14 kilometers from the town of Gabrovo. His father’s name was Nedko Enchov. Due to the poverty of the family, Lazar went to Asia Minor as a boy and agreed to work as a shepherd for a local aga, a wealthy Turk, in the village of Soma, not far from the city of Pergamum (today Bergama, Western Turkey).
However, as a Christian, the christened and hard-working shepherd caused the hatred of some people, who began to persuade him to accept Islam. Lazarus resolutely rejected all these offers to change his faith. Then they resorted to cunning and made a woman complain that the shepherd Lazar was stalking her with bad intentions. False witnesses confirmed the fabricated story and therefore the innocent Bulgarian shepherd was captured and subjected to cruel torture. He could have escaped these accusations and punishments if he had agreed to change his faith. But Lazarus could not even allow the thought of such a betrayal of his father’s faith. Therefore, he was finally sentenced to death and hanged on April 23, 1802. The martyr was then 28 years old.
Source: BTA, Prof. Ivan Zhelev
