Benedict of Ezova

Holy New Martyr Benedict of Ezova was a monk of the Holy Mountain who received the crown of martyrdom at Thessalonica on 12 June 1821, at the start of the Greek Revolution.

He was born around 1790 in the region of Serres, either in the village of Ezova (today Dafni) or nearby at Amourmeia (today Palio Kastanochori). The sources say that as a young man he went to Mount Athos with his father; his father became a monk at Konstamonitou Monastery, while Benedict studied at Polygyros and then also entered the community of Konstamonitou.

In 1821 he was sent on business to the monastery's dependency near Kalamaria, close to Thessalonica. When the Revolution broke out, he was seized together with other monks from the surroundings of the city and taken to Thessalonica. On 12 June, after torments, the monks were beheaded together with many leading men of the nearby villages. The saint's body was buried in a place that remains unknown.

The Church counts him among the new martyrs and commemorates him on 12 June, especially in Macedonia, at Thessaloniki and at Serres.