Memory 12 (25) September
All of Tbilisi was engulfed in flames. The plunderers murdered the people, set fire to the libraries, destroyed the print shop, and vandalized the churches and the king’s palace. They slaughtered the clergy in an especially cruel manner.
Unfortunately, history has not preserved the names of all those martyrs who perished in this tragedy, but we do know that a certain Metropolitan Dositeos of Tbilisi was killed because he would not abandon his flock. While the invaders simply killed most of the clergymen, from St. Dositeos they demanded a renunciation of the Christian Faith. They commanded him to defile the True and Life-giving Cross of our Lord. But the holy hieromartyr Dositeos endured the greatest torments without yielding to the enemy, and he joyfully accepted death for Christ’s sake. The invaders slaughtered Christ’s devoted servant with their swords.
St. Dositeos was martyred on September 12 in the year 1795.
Thy soul radiantly rejoices with God, O Holy Hierarch Dositeos. Pray to Sweetest Jesus to have mercy on our souls!