David the New

David the New of Kydonies (Aivali) was an Athonite monk, hanged at Thessaloniki on the night of 26 June 1813 after confessing Christ. He is honoured as a venerable new martyr and is commemorated on 26 June. He has no known canonization.

He was born in the town of Kydonies (Aivali) in Asia Minor, which had close ties with Mount Athos because two dependencies lay there, one of Iviron Monastery and one of Pantokrator Monastery. When he decided to become a monk he went to Athos, to the Skete of St Anne, where a fellow townsman of his lived. He was sent to Smyrna to collect funds to repair the chapel of the Transfiguration on the summit of Athos, damaged by lightning, and the church of the Mother of God. With the money raised the two churches were repaired, two water cisterns were made and a row of cells for pilgrims was built.

After this he was seized by a longing for martyrdom. He went to Magnesia in Asia Minor and confessed Christ in public; the Turks beat him, wounded his head and drove him out. Not having fulfilled his desire, he returned to the skete. His spiritual father, fearing that he would deny the faith under torture, would not let him go. David then went to Karyes, where he received permission and the blessing of the former Metropolitan Pankratios of Christoupolis.

From the Holy Mountain he travelled to Thessaloniki, where he learned that a monk of the Skete of St Demetrios, a dependency of Vatopedi, had become a Muslim. He tried to persuade the monk to return to the Christian faith, but in vain. His intention became known to some Muslims, who seized him and took him before the judge. The judge, fearing that David would bring the monk back to the faith, gave a quick sentence: he was to be hanged that night. So on the night of 26 June 1813 the venerable David of Kydonies fulfilled his wish to die out of love for Christ.