d. 1810
A new martyr of Varna; no details of his life are preserved on the page.
The Holy New Martyr Procopius of Varna
Procopius of Varna is venerated as a new martyr of the Bulgarian Orthodox tradition who was put to death in 1810. By tradition he came from Varna, on the Black Sea coast, and as a young man embraced the monastic life on Mount Athos before a period of apostasy that he later sought to redeem through public confession of Christ and a martyr's death.
Because the saint is commemorated chiefly through brief synaxarial notices, the surviving account of his life is short and traditional in character. He is kept on June 25 and is honored particularly as a patron of Varna.
(Podoben: “You sought the heights...”) You appeared as a bright star announcing Christ with your radiance,
which is repulsive to this world, O Martyr Procopius;
extinguishing the allure of false gods,
you enlighten the faithful,
always interceding for us all.
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
Your holy martyr Procopius, O Lord,
through his sufferings has received an incorruptible crown from You, our God.
For having Your strength, he laid low his adversaries,
and shattered the powerless boldness of demons.
Through his intercessions, save our souls!
Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).
The synaxarial tradition relates that at the place of execution none of the Ottoman executioners would step forward to strike the blow, so that a former Orthodox Christian who had converted to Islam was brought to behead him.
Sources for the saint are limited to brief synaxarial notices; the OCA record on which his database entry rests preserves no detail of his life, and the fuller narrative derives from later devotional accounts of the Athonite and Bulgarian tradition.
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