New Martyr 18th century

New Monastic Martyr Nikodemos of Albania

died July 11, 1722

Also known as Nikodemos of Elbasan

A married Christian of Elbasan who fell away to Islam, but coming to himself in bitter repentance became a monk on Mount Athos, returned to confess Christ openly before those he had denied, and was beheaded for the faith.

Feast Day

July 11

Also Jul 10

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

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Commemorated as

The Holy New Monastic Martyr Nikodemos of Albania

Life

Nikodemos was an Albanian Christian of the early eighteenth century who denied Christ and embraced Islam, then returned through repentance to confess the faith openly and was martyred for it. According to the synaxarion he came from Elbasan, in the region the older accounts call Epirus; other accounts place his origin at Vithkuq. He is numbered among the New Martyrs of the Ottoman period and is commemorated on July 11, with some calendars also listing July 10.

By tradition Nikodemos was raised by devout parents, married, and had several children. Through his dealings with the surrounding Muslim population he was drawn away from the Christian faith and accepted Islam, and he sought to bring his children with him. One of his sons was taken by Christians and brought to Mount Athos, where he was tonsured a monk; Nikodemos, learning where the boy was, traveled to the Holy Mountain intending to reclaim him for Islam.

On Athos the journey produced the opposite of what he intended. Nikodemos came to repentance, renounced both Islam and his former life, and was himself received as a monk at the Skete of Saint Anne, where he is said to have kept a strict fast for three years. Convinced by the teaching that one who has denied Christ before others must confess Him again before others, he resolved to return home and proclaim the faith publicly, accepting that this would mean death.

He returned and confessed Christ before the Muslim authorities, refused every inducement to recant, and was beheaded with a sword. The sources give the date as July 11, 1722. His relics were venerated as a source of miracles, with the principal portion enshrined in a church of the Theotokos and a further portion preserved at the Skete of Saint Anne on Mount Athos.

Timeline 3 moments Read Hide

early 18th c. Apostasy to Islam An Albanian Christian, Nikodemos denied Christ and accepted Islam, seeking to bring his children with him.
before 1722 Repentance on Mount Athos Traveling to the Holy Mountain after his son, he repented and became a monk at the Skete of Saint Anne, keeping a strict fast for three years.
July 11, 1722 Martyrdom Returning to confess Christ openly before the Muslim authorities, he refused to recant and was beheaded.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

Apostasy and Repentance

The accounts agree that Nikodemos first fell away from Christianity to Islam during the Ottoman occupation of his homeland, a pattern common to many of the New Martyrs, and that he pressed his own household to follow him. The salvation of his son, removed to Mount Athos by Christians, became the unintended occasion of his own conversion: arriving on the Holy Mountain in anger, he was instead turned to penitence and tonsured a monk at the Skete of Saint Anne.

Sources differ on the surrounding details of his life. The OCA synaxarion describes him as married once to a Christian woman, while the Greek tradition recorded by Sanidopoulos relates that he worked as a tailor at Berat, was widowed three times, and converted in order to contract a fourth marriage forbidden by Orthodox canon law. The anchor account followed here gives his home as Elbasan; the date of his martyrdom is uniformly given as 1722.

Martyrdom and Relics

After three years of monastic life Nikodemos returned to confront the people before whom he had denied Christ. By tradition he received the blessing of Saint Akakios of Kavsokalyva before setting out. Arrested and brought before the Muslim governor, he was beaten and tortured, refused to renounce Christianity, and was beheaded on July 11, 1722.

His relics were honored as wonderworking and fragrant. The principal account places his burial in a church of the Theotokos, with later tradition associating his shrine with both Berat and Elbasan; a portion of his relics is kept at the Skete of Saint Anne on Mount Athos, where he had been a monk.

Notes

Region of origin (Albania) has no controlled term. OCA also lists him Jul 10.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints