St. Ketevan the Martyr

Ketevan was queen of Kakheti in eastern Georgia. She offered herself as a hostage to the Persian Shah Abbas to protect her son and her people. After ten years the Shah ordered her to become a Muslim and join his harem. She refused and was tortured with red-hot pincers until she died. Portuguese monks secretly took her relics, part of which were found in Goa in India in 2004.

• Feast: September 13 (New Calendar)
• Lived: died 1624
• Place: Shiraz, Persia