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| Holy New Martyrs and Confessors of Nasaud (Feast Day - November 12) |
Holy Martyr Athanasius Todoran was born in Bichigiu village of the Sălăuţa
valley in the Năsăud region of Transylvania, to a family of devout 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 had been administrator and tax collector in Bichigiu
and Sălăuţa valley.
As a virtuous and courageous man, 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 were Catholics, and went back home. Followed by the people of the empire, he took
refuge in the Ţibleş Mountains, in the land of Maramureş and Chioaru. While in
this exile, he always prayed to God for himself and for his fellow people
who were suffering all kinds of humiliations.
His pain grew when those who belonged to Catholicism caught and imprisoned
him for a few years in the Hoopers’ Tower of the Bistriţa citadel. Once
released from prison, he went back to Bichigiu village, where the
Orthodox faith of his forefathers was threatened by uniatism. Thus,
because the village had no Orthodox priest, he firmly refused to confess
to and take Holy Communion from a uniate priest.
He always manifested his faith in God and desire for justice and
truth. Therefore, from 1761-1762 he held talks with the government in
Vienna, together with some other leaders, for the militarization of 21
communes in the Bichigiu, Sălăuţa and Great Someş valleys. He went to Vienna
together with other Romanians where the pact with the government was
concluded and where they were assured that, after joining the frontier
guard, the Romanians from Năsăud area would enjoy more facilities and
would not be forced to give up their faith.
When he came back home expecting to enjoy the results of the
agreement, blessed Athanasius realized that the Romanians’ demands were
not taken into account, so that he started openly opposing the attempts
of conversion to Catholicism.
On 10 May 1763, the fight flags were to be blessed and nine companies
of the recently set up frontier guard were to be sworn in Salva, at the place called “At the Marsh”. General Bukov, sent by the
Court of Vienna to survey and accelerate the conversion of the
Romanians to Catholicism in Transylvania, came to attend the swearing in
of the frontier guards of Năsăud and the blessing of the flag,
accompanied by the uniate bishop. At that time of hard trials for the
Orthodox Christians, when the militaries were prepared to swear in, “old
Tănase Todoran” (Athanasius Todoran), aged 104 at the time, came in front of the crowd
riding a horse and delivered a speech for the Romanian frontier guards.
He said: “We have been frontier guards for two years and we have not
received papers from the empress to confirm we are free people, as we
were promised!… Therefore, we shall not bear arms to see our holy faith mocked!
Let down your arms!"
The passionate words of the pious old man
bore fruit in the hearts of his listeners and so the soldiers who were
about to swear in the oath of faith to Vienna took Athanasius’ side and
put down their arms.
Soon afterwards, the authorities undertook investigations in order to
punish the holy confessors. Thus, on 12 November 1763, the supporters
of the centuries old faith and of the freedoms of the Romanian people
were tortured on the same plateau of Salva. The bones of the righteous
martyr Athanasius were broken with a wheel from head to toe and his
head was tied to a wheel, “because he hindered the people to convert to uniatism and join the frontier guard…”.
Three other faithful died a martyr’s death together with him: Basil
from Mocod, Gregory from Zagra and Basil from Telciu. Nineteen other
Orthodox Christians were whipped, many of them to death. The heads of
the Holy Martyrs were put on pillars at the gates of the houses where
they had lived and pieces of their bodies cut to pieces were laid at
crossroads.
This was the martyric death of those worthy of commemoration. Holy Martyr
Athanasius, who shed his blood for the faith of his forefathers and for
the rights of his Romanian brothers and sisters from Transylvania. His suffering and
those who were martyred together with him have been always honored in
the souls of the Orthodox faithful of the Năsăud area. The Holy Synod of the
Romanian Orthodox Church, through the Tomos of 22 October 2007, numbered them among the saints to be celebrated on 12 November.
Through their holy intercessions, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us. Amen.
Troparion in the Fourth Tone
Your life well-pleasing to God has shone like a brilliant
star in the land of Năsăud, Holy Martyrs Athanasius of Bichigiu,
Basil of Mocod, Gregory of Zagra and Basil of Telciu; for being
strengthened by divine grace you became protectors and confessors of
Orthodoxy against rulers of other origin and faith. Therefore,
suffering to the very shedding of your blood, you have been crowned in
Heaven by Christ our God, to Whom do intercede for our souls.
