Saint Marcella was born and raised in Volissos, in this historic village of Kefalochori in northwestern Chios around 1500 AD.
Her father was a pagan and her Christian mother died at a young age.
Marcella was distinguished from an early age for her deep faith and love for Christ, as evidenced by church traditions, her kindness, and purity. According to her biography, as happened in other cases of martyred Saints, God wanted to test her faith.
Thus her pagan and hard-hearted father began to love his own daughter and to feel an inexhaustible carnal desire for her. When Markella realized the shameful character of her sarcastic father, she left her paternal home and sought refuge in the mountains of the area.
Then her father, moved by his bestial desire and with indescribable fury, began to look for the young and beautiful Markella. She herself tried to protect herself and save her honesty. A large bush was the safe refuge of the Saint.
A shepherd, however, noticed Markella and pointed the baton at her manic father. Then the father set fire to the bush to force her out of it. Markella managed to find a way out and thus escaped from his hands for a moment. Then she started running on the stones and rocks, but her father, seeing the difficulty in reaching her, decided to mark her with his bow and so he shot an arrow at her.
The Saint was wounded, and her blood watered the rocks. Nevertheless, he continued to run until at some point she could not bear it and fell. So she turned to God and prayed to tear the rock and hide her inside. The Saint’s request came true. But the rock opened just enough to fit halfway. The sarcastic father, arriving at the place and seeing this paradoxical miracle, became even angrier and cut her breasts with a knife and threw them on the mountain. He then beheaded his daughter and threw her head into the sea.
The torn rock, which received the martyrdom body of Saint Marcella, is still a place of pilgrimage from which holy water gushes while it is said that those who believe deeply observe the red color of the rocks and the water evaporates.
