The birthplace of the Holy Martyr Ignatius was the village of Eski-Zagra, Ternov diocese, inhabited by Bulgarians. His father George and mother Maria were Orthodox Christians, who subsequently moved from this village to Philippopolis and there they gave Ignatius, named in St. baptism by John, learn to read and write. Possessing naturally excellent abilities, he quickly learned his Slavic language, and to further educate himself in the sciences, he retired to the Rila Bulgarian monastery, and there he entered under the guidance of one learned elder, with whom he stayed for six years, studying various sciences and at the same time complacently enduring various insults from him, since the elder had a hot-tempered character. But one day, when the elder was very angry with John for something and his irritability was already beginning to go out of bounds, so that the life of the blessed one was in danger, then he, fearing the possible unfortunate consequences, withdrew from there again to his parent’s house.
Ivan returned to Plovdiv when the Turks were recruiting men into the army to suppress the rebellion in Serbia. His father refused to fight with his brothers in faith, for which he was brutally killed, and his mother and 2 sisters were forcibly converted to Islam. Having learned about these events, Ivan hid with the pious old woman. The sisters handed him over to the Turks, but Ivan managed to escape.
Ivan stayed in Bucharest for some time, and then headed to Mount Athos and in Shumen met an acquaintance from Bucharest, Eleutherius, who converted to Islam. But, as you can see, his desire was not even then the will of God, arranging everything in a timely manner for our benefit.
At that time, there happened to be one Svyatogorsk elder in Thessaloniki, who rejected John from his intention - he advised him to go back to the Holy Mountain, strengthen himself with spiritual exploits, and then, if it was God’s will, to embark on a martyrdom. Having listened to the advice of the good old man, John agreed to follow it and a few days later, together with this good companion, he arrived back on Athos, to the monastery of St. Anna, where this elder soon fell ill and rested in the Lord, and John, after his death, moved to the Kavsokalivsky monastery. Here he learned about his former friend, the Venerable Martyr Euphemia, who suffered a martyr’s death for Christ. Rejoicing at the favorable outcome of his friend and with all his heart offering up a prayer of gratitude to the Heavenly Father, who snatched the lost sheep from the predatory wolf-devil, he himself decided to follow in the footsteps of the Venerable Martyr Euthymius, and therefore immediately went to the monastery of St. The Forerunner, to the confessor Nicephorus (father and mentor of Euthymius), and earnestly began to beg to accept him under his spiritual leadership.
From the conversation that followed between them, Nicephorus learned in detail the entire past life of John and agreed to accept him as his disciple.
Under the guidance of the experienced confessor Nicephorus, John day by day became more and more successful in virtues, so that prayer, vigils and genuflections were his consolation, and the name of Jesus, which constantly reigned in his heart, became his life. In addition, he read part of the sacred Gospel every day and offered a short prayer to the Mother of God several times a day, asking the Heavenly Intercessor to grant him martyrdom. His food consisted of bread and water, which he consumed with moderation.
Leading such a strict life, his spirit did not weaken or become despondent, and he was constantly cheerful; Moreover, wanting to suffer for his faith in Jesus Christ, he tried to imitate St. in everything. Euthymius, and what he did before his martyrdom, his worthy imitator tried his best to do, often turning to his holy friend with prayer, so that he would help him to enter into the great feat of martyrdom and courageously accept death for Christ. Ivan decided to suffer for Christ and thereby atone for the sin of cowardice. Elder Akaki tonsured him as a monk with a name and blessed him for martyrdom.
On September 29, 1814, Ignatius came to Constantinople with mon. Gregory, who had previously accompanied Euthymius. A few days later, on Tuesday, after receiving Holy Communion, Ignatius changed into Turkish clothes and headed to the court hearing. There he tore the turban from his head, threw it to the ground and said that in his youth he was forced to lie, promising to renounce the faith, and now he wants to take back his words and confess Christ, the True God. The judge urged him to change his decision, but Ignatius boldly condemned the Muslim religion. He was imprisoned, where they tried to force him to renounce Christ through persuasion and torture for 2 days, but the martyr was adamant. Then he was convicted and hanged on October 8, 1814.
After 3 days, monk Gregory bought his relics and on October 20 delivered them to Athos, where he placed them along with the relics of the great saint. Euphemia in the new church in the monastery of St. John the Baptist.
We should not remain silent about the miracles that St. Martyr Ignatius. So, in Galata of Constantinople there were two unfortunate people - sick, one insane in mind, and the other paralytic, and as soon as they put the saint's skuf 286 on the head of the sick, first on one, and then on the other, invoking the name of the Venerable Martyr Ignatius, the paralytic immediately became healthy in body, and the insane one came to his senses. - Glory to our God, who glorifies His saints, now and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.
Honest head of St. Ignatius is in the Russian monastery of the Great Martyr. Panteleimon on Mount Athos, particles of his relics are kept in the monastery of St. John the Baptist and in the Iveron Monastery.
21 Rev. Philotheus of Athos (late 10th – early 11th centuries, commemorated October 21)
The Monk Philotheus was from Elatia. Fearing the Turks, his parents moved to Macedonia, to Chrysopolis, where the saint’s father soon died. The child Philotheus and his brother, kidnapped by the Turks and thrown into prison, were miraculously brought out by the Mother of God Herself. She appeared to the children in the form of their mother and led them to the monastery of the Most Holy Theotokos in the city of Naples in Asia Minor. In this monastery, the brothers took monastic vows and underwent the obedience appointed by the abbot as ecclesiarchs. Philotheus’s mother, Evdokia, under the secret guidance of Providence, retired to a nunnery in the same city, knowing absolutely nothing about the fate of her children for many years. During the church holiday, being together with several nuns in the men's monastery where the monk labored, Evdokia recognized her children. When she asked how they ended up here, the children answered: “You know better, weren’t you the one who brought us here after freeing us from prison?” So Evdokia became convinced of the gracious intercession of the Mother of God, in prayers to Whom she only found consolation.
All the brethren gathered for the joyful meeting of the mother and the children and, having learned about the miraculous incident, glorified the Lord. After the death of his mother, the Monk Philotheus departed for the Holy Mountain, where he first joined the brotherhood of the Dionysia Monastery, and then retired to complete silence. Devoting himself to prayerful deeds, the Monk Philotheus achieved high spiritual perfection and was awarded the gift of clairvoyance. At the age of eighty-four, the monk peacefully departed to the Lord, commanding his disciples not to bury his body, but to throw it with dishonor in the forest to be devoured by animals and birds. The disciples fulfilled the elder’s will, but the Lord glorified him with the miraculous radiance of the saint’s power, after which they were returned to the monastery.
24 St. Athanasius I, Patriarch of Constantinople († 1315, commemorated October 24)