The king then, full of wrath, said: “Do either of two things: deny thy faith or choose a bitter death.” The athlete of Christ answered: “Do thou one of three things: leave me to go to my elder, for I have done no wrong; or send me to Christ with martyrdom; or become a Christian and reign for eternity in the heavens.”
The Lives of the Saints of the Holy Land and the Sanai Desert
Monk-Martyr Michael of St. Savvas Lavra