John the Vlach

Holy New Martyr John the Vlach was born in 1644 in Oltenia, to a noble family, and was raised by his parents in the fear of God, the love of country and the ancestral faith. At that time Wallachia was ruled by voivodes subject to the sultan. The voivode Mihnea rebelled against the Turks because he could not pay the exorbitant tribute demanded. He entered Turkish territory, burning, killing or imprisoning many Turks. Sultan Mehmed IV sent against him an army of Turks and Tatars, and Mihnea was forced to retreat. In retaliation the Turks and Tatars ravaged Wallachia, killing or imprisoning many Christians. John, from a rich family, was one of those jailed; he was fifteen.

After crossing the Danube, a Turkish army captain noticed how handsome he was and bought him for his own evil purposes. When he tried to seduce him, John resisted and was tied to a tree until the Hagarene could find an occasion to fulfil his desire. John feared he would be forced and, at a good moment, killed the Turk. When the other soldiers learned of it, they bound him and took him to Constantinople and gave him to the dead man's widow. She brought him to the vizier, who questioned him, and John admitted what he had done. The vizier gave him to the widow to do with as she wished. At first she made him one of her slaves. Then, seeing how handsome he was, she promised to spare his life if he would marry her and become a Muslim. Saint John made the sign of the Cross and prayed that Christ would keep him steadfast in the Orthodox faith. The woman persisted for two and a half years. At last he told her he would sooner die for Christ than become a Muslim and marry her. The woman gave him to the prefect, who put him in jail. The Turks subjected him to frightful tortures for several days, while the wicked woman never ceased trying to flatter him, tempt him or persuade him to reject Christ. The young man remained firm in faith and in chastity.

Strengthened by the Lord Jesus Christ, he turned his back on the woman and her religion. The Turks, seeing their efforts in vain, asked the vizier to condemn him to death, and the prefect was ordered to carry out the sentence. The executioners brought him to Parmak Kapi ("Gate of the Pillar"), near the covered bazaar, and hanged him there on 12 May 1662, before he reached the age of eighteen. His holy relics were either thrown into the waters of the Bosphorus or buried by Christians in an unknown place. Saint John was first glorified by the Greek Church among the new martyrs of the Turkish yoke; beginning in 1801 his veneration also spread in the Romanian lands. In 1950 the Holy Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church decided that the saint should be honoured also in the country of his birth; he was glorified by the Romanian Church in October 1950. He is commemorated on 12 May (new style).