+) Martyrs and Confessors of Nasaud: Athanasius, Basil, Gregory and Basil; St. John the Merciful, patriarch of Alexandria; St. Nilus the Faster of Sinai

Orthodox Calendar, November 12 Martyrs and Confessors of Nasaud: The Holy Martyr Athanasius Todoran He was born in Bichigiu village, Sălăuţa valley, Năsăud region of Transylvania, to a family of Orthodox Christians. Few things are known about his childhood; it is only known that he was an outstanding person in his community, an educated person, who has been administrator and tax collector in the communes on Bichigiu and Sălăuţa valleys.

Given his virtues and courage he was a member of a military regiment of the empire from Vienna ever since his youth. Hence, as his retirement was postponed, he left the army of his masters, who had a different faith, and went back home. Followed by the people of the empire, he took refuge in Ţibleş Mountains, in Maramureş and Chioaru land. While in this exile, he always prayed God for him and for his fellow human beings who were suffering and in all kind of humiliations.

His pains grew when the ones of other faiths caught and imprisoned him for a few years in the Hoopers’ Tower, in Bistriţa citadel. Once released from prison, he went back to Bichigiu village, where the Orthodox faith of his forerunners was threatened by uniatism. Thus,…