The Orthodox Church commemorates today Holy New Martyr Demetrius.
He lived at the end of the 18th century AD. and he was from Samarina. He devoted himself to Christ from an early age and went to a monastery in Epirus. He zealously followed an ascetic way of life, according to the psalmist “I am like the deaf and cannot hear, like the dumb and cannot speak. “(Psalm 37: 15). But at the same time, he did not fail to teach the word of Christ with courage in the Turkish-occupied villages of Thessaly.
Following the failed uprising organised by the priest Efthymios Vlachavas in 1808, Demetrius was arrested by the Turks and taken to Ali Pasha, by whose order he was fiercely tortured. He endured the ordeals and remained steadfast in his faith.
He was eventually sealed into a wall, where he reposed in the Lord after ten days of martyrdom. A Turk, who admired his bravery, publicly confessed his faith in Jesus Christ. He said that Jesus Christ was not a mere prophet, according to Islam, but a God-man, Saviour and Redeemer, according to the Holy Gospel. Thus, he was also tortured.
Even today there are Christians around the world who follow the Holy Gospel secretly because they are afraid of other people and of various temptations.
Let us also pray for the crypto-Christians and the catechumens who are eagerly awaiting their Baptism. They are waiting to be anointed with oil in the name of the Trinity.
Source: Church of Cyprus
