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New MartyrUnknown

Hieromartyr Cyprian of Mount Athos

d. 1679

Also known as Cyprian the New Martyr

A monk of Mount Athos honored as a hieromartyr; few details of his life are preserved.

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July 18Old Calendar
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Commemorated as

The Holy New Hieromartyr Cyprian of Mount Athos

Life

Cyprian the New (reposed 1679) was an Athonite monk and priest who is venerated as a new martyr of the Ottoman period. According to the synaxaria he was born in the village of Klitzos (also given as Kletzos), in the Agrapha region of northern Greece, to devout Christian parents. After their deaths he withdrew to Mount Athos, where he was tonsured a monk and later ordained to the priesthood, living an ascetic life in a cell near the Monastery of Koutloumousiou.

Convinced that his salvation lay in suffering for Christ, Cyprian left the Holy Mountain to confront the Muslim authorities of his day. After being rebuffed at Thessalonica he traveled to Constantinople, where he openly denounced Islam before the Ottoman court and was condemned and beheaded on July 5, 1679. He is commemorated on that date.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide
TroparionTone 4

By sharing in the ways of the Apostles,
you became a successor to their throne.
Through the practice of virtue, you found the way to divine contemplation, O inspired one of God;
by teaching the word of truth without error, you defended the Faith,
even to the shedding of your blood.
Hieromartyr Cyprian, entreat Christ God to save our souls.

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline5 momentsReadHide
  1. Early lifeBirth in the Agrapha regionBorn in the village of Klitzos (Kletzos) in the Agrapha district of northern Greece to devout Christian parents, according to the synaxaria.
  2. After his parents' deathMonastic life on Mount AthosWithdrew to Mount Athos, was tonsured a monk and ordained to the priesthood, and lived ascetically in a cell near the Monastery of Koutloumousiou, becoming known across the Holy Mountain for his discipline.
  3. 1679Confession at ThessalonicaLeft Athos seeking martyrdom and went before the pasha (judge) of Thessalonica, urging him to reject Islam for Christ. He was scourged, beaten, and driven out.
  4. 1679Denunciation at ConstantinopleTraveled on to Constantinople, where he presented a written denunciation of Islam and confession of Christ before the Ottoman court; sources name the grand vizier and the mufti (Sheik ul-Islam) as those who examined and condemned him.
  5. July 5, 1679Martyrdom by beheadingCondemned to death and beheaded, by tradition in the Phanar district of Constantinople. He is recorded as approaching his execution joyfully.

Contributions & Legacy

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Historical Record

Cyprian's commemoration appears on July 5 in the synaxaria, though some recensions (such as the OCA listing) preserve no biographical detail. The fuller account is transmitted in the Prologue of Ohrid and in the broader new-martyrologion tradition of the Ottoman period.

His martyrdom is reported to have been recorded by John Karyophyllis (Ioannes Karyophylles), a contemporary witness to the events at Constantinople, which places his death within the documented wave of Athonite and Greek new martyrs who openly confessed Christ before the Ottoman authorities.

Member ofReadHide
Synaxis of All Saints of Mount Athos
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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints