Ignatius the Monk of Bulgaria

Venerable Martyr Ignatius the Monk of Bulgaria was a monk born in Bulgaria, hanged at Constantinople on 8 October 1814, after he confessed Christ before the kadi. He is commemorated on 8 October and, with Saints Acacius and Euthymius, on 1 May.

Youth and denial

Born in the village of Eski Zagora near Trnovo, with the name John, he entered the Rila Monastery but returned home after six years. His father refused to fight the Serbian Christians and was killed, and his mother and sisters accepted Islam. John hid with an elderly Christian woman and made his way to Bucharest. On the road to Athos, Turkish soldiers stopped him, took his belongings and forced him to promise to become a Muslim.

The road to martyrdom

Reaching the Holy Mountain, he settled at Saint Anne Skete. Hearing of the martyrdom of the monks David and Euthymius of Demetsana and of the New Martyr Euthymius (22 March), he was kindled with the desire for martyrdom. Under the guidance of Elder Acacius he practised prayer, prostrations and reading of the Gospel, was tonsured with the name Ignatius and, after receiving Communion in Constantinople, went in Turkish dress before the kadi.

Witness and death

He told the kadi that he had once promised to become a Muslim, but now threw off his turban and would never deny Christ. He called Muhammad a false prophet. Asked who had brought him there, he answered: "My Lord Jesus Christ." The kadi condemned him to hanging, so that the Christians would not collect the blood of a beheaded martyr. He was hanged at Daktyloporta, and his body hung three days. Pious Christians ransomed it and buried it on the island of Prote. His head is at the Monastery of Saint Panteleimon on Athos.