26 February/11 March

St. John Kalphes, was from Galata, and was an apprentice to a cabinetmaker in the royal palace. Other members of the nobility would invite him to work on the construction of their mansions. He was humble and kind, would arrange for orphans to be married, would facilitate the liberation of the imprisoned, and would perform other good works. A certain Aga entrusted his nephew to him for instruction. While visiting the royal palace, the child saw some children, known as "its oglanya," who were merry and who were being accorded great respect. Wanting to become one of them, he went to his uncle and asked to be turned over to the court. The Aga in turn asked John, with whose assistance the child was accepted into the court. A little while later, the boy was given a position. He came to greatly love his teacher John, for it was through his efforts that his wish had been granted. Some time later, the child said to John:

"As you are a learned man, I want to ask you: Tell me what is written in your books about our prophet, for whose sake god created the world and everything therein?"

John answered:

"I request that you not ask me about that. Let's talk about anything else, but not about the faith.

However, the boy continued: "I swear to you by the bread that I eat with the king, and by the powerful love that binds us, that I will cause you no harm; do not be afraid to answer me."

Encouraged by this oath, and prompted by love, John answered:

"As you have asked me to say, I will tell you the truth. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the one and only true God. Mohammed, in whom you believe, was a mortal and uneducated man who did nothing good upon this earth, and did not perform a single miracle, unlike the other prophets of God that we, the Christians have. It is only you people who revere him as a prophet. In fact, he was a theomachist and with his fantasies and fanaticism attracted a simple and ignorant people, so that what was prophesied about him was fulfilled: that he "would come to seduce the world."

Hearing that, the child's friendship turned into enmity. He summoned other followers of the Aga, who beat John mercilessly, took him to the judge, and accused him of blaspheming against their faith. The enraged judge ordered that he be beaten. Thereafter, John was cast into prison and pressured to renounce Christ and to adopt their faith. Courageously enduring all, Blessed John said to them:

"I will not renounce my Sweetest Jesus; I believe in Him and worship Him, and confess Him to be true God and perfect Man."

Seeing his intransigence, the Aga's men sentenced him to six months of penal servitude with the fleet on the Black Sea. Upon his return, he was once again incarcerated, and was subjected to three months of torture. When they realized that they would not be able to bend the saint to their will and force him to renounce Christ, they told the vizier about him. The vizier ordered the eparch to take the martyr to the place of execution in the city square of Ergat-Bazara and there to behead him. Thus did St. John receive the martyr's crown, and thus does he now rejoice in the ranks of the martyrs. Such was the martyrdom of blessed John, as described by father Andrei, a monk of the great church, then standing in Vlanka, of the Holy God-bearing Fathers Theodore and Theophanes, who communed St. John in the prison, and by whose prayers may also be made worthy of the Heavenly Kingdom.