New Martyr 17th century

New Martyr Nicholas of Metsovo

died 1617

Also known as Nicholas Basdanis

A young man of Metsovo in Epirus who, having fallen away under pressure, repented and openly confessed Christ, and was burned to death for the faith.

Feast Day

May 16

Also May 17

Draft

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Commemorated as

The Holy New Martyr Nicholas of Metsovo

Life

Nicholas of Metsovo, whose surname is given as Basdanis, was a layman of the seventeenth century who was burned to death at Trikala (Trikkala) in Thessaly for confessing the Orthodox faith after a period of apostasy. He is numbered among the New Martyrs who suffered under Ottoman rule, and is commemorated on May 16 and May 17. Born to a poor but devout family of Metsovo, a town on the borders of Epirus and Thessaly, he is also remembered as Nicholas the Vlach.

As a young man Nicholas left Metsovo for Trikala, where he found work as the assistant of a Muslim baker. Under the persistent pressure of Turks who urged him to adopt their religion, he yielded and embraced Islam. He was soon overcome with remorse, and he secretly returned to Metsovo, where he was reconciled to the Orthodox Church and gave himself to a life of repentance and prayer. According to the synaxarion he supported himself by carrying wood to Trikala and selling it there.

His return to Christianity placed him in danger, for under Ottoman law an apostate from Islam could be put to death. A Muslim barber recognized him and threatened to expose him, and for a time Nicholas bought the man's silence; but at length he resolved to confess Christ openly and to accept martyrdom. When he was denounced and brought before the kadi, he freely acknowledged that he had once converted to Islam and had then repented and returned to his Christian faith. He was condemned to death, and a fire was kindled into which the martyr was cast. The sources relate that he prayed amid the flames before the assembled crowd.

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1617 Martyrdom at Trikala Nicholas is condemned by the kadi and burned to death, commemorated on May 16 and May 17.

Contributions & Legacy

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Apostasy and Repentance

The defining movement of Nicholas's life, as the tradition preserves it, is his fall and his recovery. Having denied the faith under pressure while a young workman in a largely Muslim quarter of Trikala, he did not remain in his lapse but was, in the words of one account, immediately struck by remorse. His secret return to Metsovo and his reconciliation to the Church were followed by years of conspicuous penance, so that his eventual death is presented not merely as a martyrdom but as the consummation of a long repentance.

When the barber's threat forced a decision, Nicholas is said to have first put off exposure and then, after consulting spiritual advisers, to have refused to continue paying for silence, choosing instead to stand before the judge and confess. His open admission before the kadi that he had apostatized and then returned made his condemnation certain under the law of the time.

Martyrdom and Relics

Nicholas was burned to death in the year 1617; the accounts place the execution in a public square, with the date given as May 16 in one tradition and May 17 in another, and the database records both as his feast. After his death a Christian sought to recover his remains, and his skull was preserved and, according to the tradition, later brought to light and given to the Monastery of Barlaam (Varlaam) at Meteora. Portions of his relics are also reported at other monasteries associated with his memory, including a monastery of the Dormition at Metsovo.

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