St. Gregory V of Constantinople

Patriarch of Constantinople three times, a builder of schools and printer of books, who was on the patriarchal throne when the Greek War of Independence began in 1821. Pressed by the Sultan, he had pronounced an excommunication of the rising, and it did not save him or his flock. On Easter Sunday, 10 April 1821, after serving the Liturgy, he was hanged in his vestments from the main gate of the Patriarchate, and his body was thrown into the Bosphorus; Greek sailors recovered it and took it to Odessa, and it was brought to Athens in 1871. The gate has been kept shut ever since. Glorified in 1921. Feast: April 10.