Chryse, Pella, Greece, September 29, 2026
Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr
The relics of the holy New Martyr Chryse, also known as Zlata, have been found in the Pella region of northern Greece, and scientific testing has now confirmed their authenticity.
The fragrant, myrrh-streaming relics were discovered near the ruins of the old Church of the Dormition of the Theotokos, in the fortress of the village of Chryse. Analysis carried out at specialized laboratories in Germany found that the bones belong to a young woman of about 17 who died in 1795, the year given in the saint’s life, reports the Orthodoxia News Agency.
The Church commemorates St. Chryse on October 13. This year’s feast will be especially significant, as the solemn uncovering of her relics will take place that day.
“We glorify God for the great blessing He has granted us two centuries after the saint’s glorious and dreadful martyrdom, in days of great spiritual challenges and temptations, and we urge everyone to have recourse to her holy intercessions and the grace of her holy relics,” Metropolitan Joel of Edessa writes in an encyclical on the upcoming feast.
The relics will adorn the local Church of Edessa, “sanctifying and blessing the faithful people of God and strengthening the entire Orthodox Church.”
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Photo: orthodoxianewsagency.gr St. Chryse was born in the village of Slatena (present-day Chrysi) in the district of Almopia, Pella Prefecture. Her father was poor and had four daughters. St. Chrysi was beautiful in body and in soul.
Once, while she was in the fields with other women gathering firewood, a certain Turk abducted her and took her to his house. The Turk tried, through flattery, to convert her to Islam and make her his wife. But St. Chrysi resisted and answered boldly: “I know only Christ as my Bridegroom, Whom I will not deny even if you cut me to pieces.”
St. Chrysi’s parents and relatives, under pressure from the Turks, begged her to accept Islam in order to save herself. But the noble-hearted St. Chrysi answered them: “My Father is my Lord Jesus Christ, my mother is the Lady Theotokos, and my brothers and sisters are the saints of our Church.”
Faced with St. Chrysi's steadfastness, the Turks responded with horrific torture. Finally, on October 13, 1795, they cut her body to pieces with knives, and thus she most worthily received the crown of martyrdom from Christ the Bridegroom.
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