9th century
A young man of Edessa who gave away his inheritance, became a monk of the Lavra of St Savva, and on a journey to the Holy Places was put to death for refusing to deny Christ or accept the favor of the ruler.
Our Venerable Martyr Michael the Black-Robed of the Lavra of Saint Savva
Michael the Black-Robed was a ninth-century monk of the Lavra of Saint Savva who, by tradition, was put to death for refusing to deny Christ. A native of Edessa in Mesopotamia, he gave away his inheritance, made the pilgrimage to the Holy Places, and entered the monastic life before his martyrdom. He is commemorated on May 23, and again on July 29.
The synaxarion relates that while selling his handiwork in Jerusalem he refused the advances and the favor of a Muslim queen and would not renounce his faith, and that he was at last beheaded by order of the caliph. His epithet "the Black-Robed" reflects his monastic habit.
Michael belonged to the ninth-century world of Edessa, then under Muslim rule. Having renounced his inheritance, he made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem and joined the Lavra of Saint Savva in the Judean wilderness, placing himself under his relative Saint Theodore of Edessa, who lived both in the monastery and as an anchorite. The two supported themselves by a humble craft, weaving reed baskets that Michael sold in the city.
The synaxarion relates that Michael's well-made baskets drew the notice of a eunuch of the Muslim queen Seida, who was visiting Jerusalem with her husband, the caliph al-Ma'mun. Brought before her, Michael refused her seduction; in her anger she accused him to the caliph, who demanded he confess Islam. Michael refused, the account says, and called Muhammad a deceiver. Offered a cup of poison, he made the sign of the cross over it, drank, and remained unharmed, and was then beheaded.
His life was preserved in the tradition associated with Saint Theodore of Edessa, and his relics were honored at the Lavra of Saint Savva. He is commemorated on May 23 and on July 29.
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