Saturday, October 31, 2009

St. David the Righteous of Euboea (Evia)

Icon of St. David the Righteous of Euboea (Evia) - Commemorated on November 1st (http://www.pigizois.net/agioi/david_evoia/david.htm)

Saint David was born between 1470 and 1480, in the village of Gardinitsa in the province of Locrida. The name of this village is nowadays Kyparissi. His father, Christodoulos, was a priest. He and his pious wife Theodora had four children, whom they raised "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord".

When little David was three years old, one evening he saw Saint John the Baptist in a vision. Saint John took his hand and they went together to a chapel dedicated to his memory. There, Saint John went into his icon, while the child got down on his knees in front of it. Little Davids parents, as well as the whole village, were looking for him for six days and nights.


On the sixth day, which was Saturday, David's father went with some villagers to that chapel to serve the Vespers and pray to the Saint for his child.

When they arrived, they were surprised to see little David on his knees in front of the icon of Saint John. His face was glowing with a celestial light and he didn't look at all haggard. They then all understood that this child was not like the other children, he was special.

When Saint David was fifteen years old, he left his village with the blessing of his parents and followed the hieromonk Akakios, a virtuous and experienced spiritual father, whom he met due to the Providence of the Lord.

In the monastery of Elder Akakios Saint David lived as member of the brotherhood for five years.

His asceticism, obedience and humility were sterling. The prudence and the wisdom of the young novice were the reason his brothers in the monastery called him "David the Elder".

Following Akakios, who had the desire to meet virtuous monks, they left the monastery and visited a lot of other monasteries and retreats. In a monastery in Ossa, where they stayed for a long time, Saint David was ordained deacon.


Their next destination was Mount Athos. After worshiping in the Holy Monasteries and meeting the holy ascetics, Elder Akakios left for Constantinople to receive the blessing of the Patriarch, while Saint David remained at the Great Lavra of Saint Athanasios the Athonite.

The Patriarch not only blessed Elder Akakios, but also convened a Synod and ordained him Metropolitan of the Holy Diocese, of Nafpaktos and Arta.

Akakios took Saint David with him to the Diocese, where he ordained him a priest.

The obedience of Saint David to the Elder, his spiritual father, was great. The following incident depicts this obedience in the most vivid way.

One day Elder Akakios sent David from Nafpaktos to Arta for some work. It was a journey of four days by foot. Saint David was walking barefoot, as was usual for him, through difficult and wild paths. When he arrived outside the city of Arta, he stopped for a while to rest. A charitable Christian saw him and immediately bought a pair of tsarouhia (traditional Greek footwear) and gave them to the fatigued monk.

The humble Saint David, who did not want to offend this kind and devout man, accepted and wore them.

After finishing the work that the Elder had assigned to him, the Saint returned to Nafpaktos.
When the Bishop saw him wearing new shoes, he reprimanded him for accepting the offer of the Christian without first having received his blessing. He ordered Saint David to remove the shoes from his feet and return them to the person who gave them to him.

Saint David, obeying his Elder, returned barefoot to Arta, found the Christian, and after giving him back the tsarouhia, returned once again to Nafpaktos.


The goodness of Saint David and his spiritual progress were obvious to everybody.

The Bishop and the lords of the area kindly requested, and finally persuaded, the Saint to become the hegumen of the Monastery of the Holy Mother of God in Varnakova. This position was difficult, because he had to deal all the time with the problems caused by the restive monks of the monastery.

During his new activity, Saint David shone with formidable patience.

One day, the Patriarch of Constantinople, Jeremias, accompanied by the orator Emmanuel, visited the Monastery of Varnakova. During the stay of the Patriarch in the monastery, Saint David celebrated the Holy Liturgy. When the orator Emmanuel came into the church he saw Saint David, surrounded with light during the Holy Office of Preparation. He was not standing on the ground and his face was shining like the sun. Emmanuel immediately ran to the Patriarch and called him to come and see for himself the miraculous scene he had witnessed.

When the Patriarch entered the church, he could only see the face of the Saint wet with tears.
The Patriarch admired him and asked the Saint to become a bishop, but he humbly refused.

As the Hegumen of Varnakova, he established the first Greek school, where very important learned priests from Mount Athos were teaching, as well as a "Secret School" in the Monastery, which was operating up to last century.


However, the problems caused by the fathers of the Monastery continued to exist. Because of the inappropriate behavior of some monks, who despite his advice did not reform, Saint David decided, reluctantly, to leave the Monastery.

The Lord led him to Mount Steiri, in the area of Domvou. There he continued his ascetic struggle, accompanied by father Seraphim, who was also his spiritual child.

Nevertheless, the hateful devil found and took the opportunity to attack the Saint once more.

He was accused by local people as the one responsible for the escape of some slaves of a Hagarene lord from Livadia. For this reason, they arrested Saint David, imprisoned him and tortured him brutally.


Saint David suffered everything with patience. However, by the Providence of the Lord, some devout Christians appeared and paid the money to release the Saint.

When the Saint was released, he thought that it would not be good to return to his monastery. After some time, which he spent wandering in that area, without being able to find an appropriate place to rest, he decided to go to the island opposite, Euboea.

While he was on the coast of Atalanti, he saw a man with a boat and asked him kindly to take him to the island. The man saw the humble monk with the worn robe; he refused to transfer him and continued his work indifferently.

Saint David, without being upset by the man's behavior, went some meters away, removed his worn robe, laid it on the water and after making the sign of the cross, stepped on his robe and started sailing quickly through the waves.

The man, surprised, saw the Saint on his robe sailing and leaving the coast behind him. He then understood that this monk was a saint and he started shouting and begging...

- Come father, come father with my boat. Come father...

Saint David blessed him from afar and continued his journey.


With his robe he arrived at the village of Rovies. When he stepped on the shore, he began climbing the green mountain, which rose behind the village.

He found there the almost ruined chapel of the Transfiguration of Jesus Christ our Savior, which he totally reconstructed, assisted by the local people.

The holiness of Saint David was a powerful magnet attracting people who wanted to dedicate themselves to Jesus Christ. As a result, a small brotherhood quickly formed.

The cells, built to cover the needs of the brotherhood near the chapel, were not enough. Saint David decided to travel to faraway Russia to collect the money needed to build a new monastery. After surveying the area, he chose an appropriate high place on the mountain and, before leaving for his journey, gave instructions regarding the construction work to the craftsmen and artisans.

Saint David, assisted by the Greek community in Russia, which was flourishing during those years, collected a great amount of money. However, he was aware of the difficulties and the dangers of the long return journey. So he decided not to take the money with him, but to transfer it to the island by a different route.

He took a piece of wood, hollowed it out, and put all the money in it. Then he sealed the opening, made the sign of the Cross over it, and threw it into one of the rivers of Russia, while he began his return journey alone.

When the Saint arrived, after a long time, at the beach of Rovies, he saw the fishermen staring at a peculiar log and trying to break it into pieces with their axes. Their efforts were in vain, since after every stroke, the axes bent or broke.

Saint David came closer to them and told them that this log contained the money he had collected during his long journey and that it would open only by the Lord's will at the appropriate time.


When Saint David arrived at the monastery, he saw that the craftsmen had not observed his instructions and instead of building the new monastery on the top of the mountain, they had started building it near the chapel of the Transfiguration.

Saint David became upset. He asked them why they had disobeyed and they answered that on the top of the mountain, where he wanted the new monastery to be built, there was no water.

Then Saint David took some workers and monks and climbed the mountain. When they arrived at the place he had suggested for the new monastery, he got down on his knees and prayed to the Holy Mother. As soon as he finished his prayer, he knocked with his staff at the root of a big tree. Forthwith, water came streaming out of it, flowing like a river to the foothills.

However, for reasons known only to the Lord, the Saint allowed the craftsmen to continue the construction at the point where the monastery has stood up to the present day.

As for the water that still flows powerfully today, in 1963, some fellow-countrymen of the Saint created a channel to bring it into the yard of the monastery.


The natural gifts and the holiness of Saint David had become widely known. Many Metropolitans invited him to their dioceses for the spiritual benefit of the Christians.

Once, the lords and bishops of the Peloponnese invited him to resolve the problems and the divisions between them. Saint David began his journey with love and eagerness. Although the ship on which he was traveling encountered heavy seas and was wrecked, Saint David was rescued through a miracle and nine hours after the shipwreck the accompanying monks saw him floating on the sea, unscathed.

At one time, Saint David was going to Karystos on some business of the Monastery. On the road, he stopped at the village of Disto to rest himself. There, the residents of the village asked the Saint to release them from the swarm of mosquitoes, from which they were suffering. The Saint seeing their devotion, prayed fervently to the Lord and then a great miracle happened. Mosquito clouds started to fall and disappear into the sea, in front of the surprised eyes of the locals.

Another time, the Saint was in Elefsina for the spiritual benefit of the Christians. There, he was guest in the house of a devout Christian. The master of the house, so as to please the Saint, cooked among other dishes, a pumpkin, which at the time, was a newly introduced garden vegetable. But when they tasted the pumpkin they found that it was really bitter. The master of the house felt really bad. The Saint realised it, prayed secretly, and as a result the pumpkin became sweet and tasty.

The monastery became a beacon for the area of North Euboea which illumined the people's souls and comforted the Christians during those difficult years of slavery.


Saint David was distressed and hurt to see the poverty and misery of the people who came to the door of the monastery He cared first for the spiritual welfare of the pilgrims and then for their material needs.

The believers called the monastery "The Monastery of Charity".

When Saint David grew old he appointed another hegumen and withdrew to his retreat, which was a tiny cave formed by a complex of rocks in the forest. He stayed there in prayer during the whole week, eating only a piece of Antidoron and drinking only some holy water.

On Saturday afternoon Saint David would come to the monastery. On Sunday morning he served the Holy Liturgy, received Holy Communion and after advising and comforting the pilgrims to the Monastery, and educating and supporting the monks, he would leave late in the afternoon for his retreat.

When Saint David became even older, he foresaw his death in a divine revelation. Then he called the fathers of the monastery and announced to them that in three days he would pass away.

With fatherly love, he advised the monks accordingly. Shortly before rendering his holy soul into the hands of the Lord he said...

- Behold, my brothers, the Lord Jesus Christ is coming!

The monks of the monastery were desolate. With deep sadness and tears, they buried his body.


The miracles of Saint David have been numerous during the centuries, as have been the believers, who have become witnesses of his glory before the Lord's throne.

People with physical, psychic and spiritual diseases are freed from the burden of their ailments by leaning down to venerate his holy skull. They depart healed and they thank the Saint, praising God.

We commemorate him on 1st November.
May we all have his blessing!

HOLY MONASTERY OF SAINT DAVID THE ELDER


The wonderworking Skull of St. David, treasured by his monastery in Euboea. Elder Iakovos Tsalikis would bless pilgrims to the monastery with it, and many miracles occurred (taken from: http://www.rel.gr/photo/displayimage.php?album=9&pos=84)

The full life of St. David, along with a few miracles are available here in Greek: http://www.pigizois.net/agioi/david_evoia/david.htm. Additional miracles of St. David (in Greek) are available here: http://orthodox-world.pblogs.gr/2008/11/o-osios-dabid-o-en-efboia-thaymasth-emfanish-se-mikro-paidi-eort.html, http://www.gerontas.com/content/view/873/171/.  

Picture of Elder Iakovos Tsalikis wearing the Epitrachelion of St. David, along with St. David's censer and stick (if I'm not mistaken, used to stay standing and awake in prayer) (taken from: http://www.orthodoxphotos.com/Orthodox_Elders/Greek/Fr._Jacov_Tsalikis/3.shtml)

Elder Iakovos Tsalikis (of blessed memory), was drawn to the monastery of St. David (originally built by him in 1540), where he stayed, became a grace-filled spiritual father, helped many people, and also renovated and renewed the monastery through the intercessions of St. David. Thus both St. David and the blessed Elder Iakovos have made the Monastery of St. David in Euboea a great pilgrimage of Greece. For more on Elder Iakovos, see the audio recordings by Constantine Zalalas (http://www.philokalia.org/elders.htm)Precious Vessels of the Holy Spirit: The Lives and Counsels of Contemporary Elders of Greece by Herman A. Middleton, and The Garden of the Holy Spirit: Elder Iakovos of Evia by Professor Stylianos Papadopoulos. Pictures from the Monastery of St. David are available here: http://www.rel.gr/photo/thumbnails.php?album=58.

Icon of St. David of Euboea (Icon courtesy of www.eikonografos.com used with permission)

'Απολυτίκιον. Ήχος γ'. Θείας πίστεως.
Μέγα εύρατο, Εύβοια κλέος, τον πανένδοξον, Δαβίδ τον θείον, ως ιεράς αρετής καταγώγιον, και του Χρίστου οπαδόν αληθέστατον, και των Όσίων απάντων εφάμιλλον. Διό Πάτερ Όσιε, Χριστόν τον Θεόν ικέτευε, δωρήσασθε ημίν το μέγα έλεος.

Apolytikion of St. David the Righteous of Euboea in the Third Tone (amateur translation)
A great boast of Euboea were you proved to be, the all-glorious, David the divine, as a holy descendent of virtue, and a most-true defender of Christ, and equal to all the Righteous. Therefore Righteous Father, entreat Christ God, to grant us great mercy.

Additional Apolytikion in the Plagal of the Fourth Tone
With the rivers of your tears, you have made the barren desert fertile. Through sighs of sorrow from deep within you, your labors have borne fruit a hundred-fold. By your miracles you have become a light, shining upon the world. O David, our Holy Father, pray to Christ our God, to save our souls.

Blog Info / Updates / Suggestions II

Greetings!

Recently on the side bar I've added a few "Blog Notes / Guidelines" which I would appreciate you read if possible. Some topics mentioned are my sources, translations, reproducing material, and the character of comments to posts in general. I hope that they might smooth out any potential problems we might encounter here. Since I started this blog, responses has been very positive and conciliatory, and I hope that this will continue this in the future. I apologize to anyone I've dealt with inappropriately, insulted or wronged somehow, for any mistakes I've made, etc. throughout the blog.

This is also another great place where you can feel free to add your general comments, questions, and concerns about this blog. I appreciate any feedback you can provide.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Sts. Agathangelos and Timothy the New Righteous Martyrs of Esphigmenou Monastery

St. Agathangelos the New Righteous Martyr of Esphigmenou - Martyred on April 19th, 1819
"Who will hear, without tearing and being touched, the glorious and devout martyrdom of the Saint Martyr and New Martyr Agathangelos, with which God, Orthodoxy, our Nation and, especially, our Venerable Monastery, which prepared him for the praised triumph, were praised.

The Saint came from the town Ainos in Thrace from poor but devout parents and was named Athanasios in the holy Baptism.

Because of his poverty, he assumed duty on some Turk's ship in order to earn a living. Seeing the virtues and the skillfulness of Athanasios, the impure Turk thought of turning him to [Islam] in order to make him his heir. Knowing, though, the stability and the devoutness of the young man, and that with flattery he could not convince him, he kept his purpose a secret so that he could use violent means. While, once, they were travelling from Constantinople to Smyrna, the unlawful judge of the Hagarines of Smyrna, seeing, as well, the willingness and the diligence of Athanasios, he was prodding the captain to try in every way to make him change faith. As soon as they arrived in Smyrna, the same night, the Hagarine ordered Athanasios to light a lantern and to walk ahead of him, allegedly going to some place. While they were walking on a street next to Turkish graves, he ordered the young man to get inside the Turkish cemetery and when they walked deeper inside, the impure Turk pulled a knife and, allegedly, trying to kill him, he injured him pretty seriously. The young man was surprised and he was pleading him with fear and wailings, however, he responded that it was impossible to let him live unless he becomes of the same faith. The young man thought that the testimony of that Turk was not valid because everyone knew him for a liar, so he said to himself: “let me say this word in order to save myself from this cruel man and, tomorrow, I'll deny it and I'll leave”. This was Satan's trap, in order to abjure. As soon as he told him that will become an Ottoman, that impious man immediately kissed him and gave him an Ottoman name and at the same time of midnight, he dragged him to the judgment place and they didn't let him go until they circumcised him as well. A few days later, he got very sick and he was sad because he was afraid he would die in disrespect but God pitied him. After many hardships and dangers, he left his master, who almost killed him, for a financial dispute, though; since then, he started rising from the depth of impiety and he was using his Christian name.

St. Agathangelos the New Hieromartyr (http://www.eikona1.com/icon2/b04i11c82-075.jpg)

After he was rescued from many dangers with the help of God, he came to Mount Athos and, first, he visited some monasteries and sketes, where he confessed to many confessors asking for refuge; later, following the advice of a righteous confessor, he came to the holy Monastery of Esphigmenou, where the father superior Euthemios welcomed him, after he confessed him and learned his whole story. By him, he was appointed “trapezaris”, that is to say to serve in the table of the fathers, where he served with great willingness.

The devil brought him many and hard-to-say temptations and imaginations, but Athanasios, through confession and prayer, he was beating the meddler, by calling upon the Lord and the Virgin Mary.

One day, while serving in a place where there was smoke, his eyes hurt and went to his cell, where he started crying saying: “The woe is to me, that if I can not tolerate such a little pain, how can I endure the martyrdom?” He prayed for a long time with big genuflections and, afterwards, when he slept, he saw Virgin Mary in a dream, who said to him: “Why, my child, are you sad and anxious?” The saint said: “How can I not be sad, the rascal, when, apart from my other sins, I denied my Lord?” The Virgin Mary said to him: “Have courage, my child, for you will enjoy the desired martyrdom.” He narrated all these to his teacher, Germanos, who was appointed by the father superior in order to instruct him and to receive his thoughts. The father superior sent Germanos to the Patriarch, Gregorios V, who was a hermit then at the Monastery of Iviron and he reassured that all these come from God and wished Athanasios to finish with the martyrdom, after he prepared himself until the end of the Holy Lent.

When the Holy Lent came, under the order of the father superior, they went with Germanos to the Skete of Iviron on order for Athanasios to be prepared by the monk Grigorios, who had formerly prepared the Saint Martyrs Euthemios, Ignatios, Akakios and Onouphrios. There, they [venerated] their holy Relics, which when Athanasios saw them, his soul rejoiced and was heated more in the martyrdom. After they returned to the Monastery of Esphigmenou, he started preparing with great struggles, fasting and prayer. On the order of the father superior, he locked himself up in the north tower and everyday he did one thousand five hundred big [prostrations] and another four thousand small ones. Before that, his confessor read him the merciful prayers for eight days and, in the end, he anointed him with the Holy Oil. In the Fourth Sunday of the Lent, he received the cloth of the Monks in the [Liturgy] and was named Agathangelos.

St. Agathangelos of Esphigmenou (Icon courtesy of www.eikonografos.com used with permission)
  
After he received the Holy Communion, he returned to the tower. His face changed and lit up and heavenly flame lit in his heart, which urged him to more struggles. He also found a chain which weighed more than 25 lbs. and tied himself up to the skin like a true Esphigmenos (tied-up); also, he wore a sack made of hair and he increased the [prostrations] until he exceeded the three thousand big ones and eight thousand small ones. He was reading the Salutations of the Virgin Mary two times a day, the Gospel, the New Martyrology and other books, praying with Jesus prayer and desiring death with all his soul for Christ.

Not being able to hold his desire for martyrdom, he was pleading the father superior to send it him as soon as possible. The father superior advised the brothers to pray in order for God to reveal if this is His will and on the same night, the father superior saw Saint Nicholas, who was saying to Agathangelos: “You desired good work, so hurry and you will prosper”. Since then, the final preparations for it started.

Icon of St. Agathangelos the New Righteous Martyr, holding the Precious Cross and an icon of Christ's Resurrection (taken from: http://www.esphigmenou.gr/index_en.php?mid=4&sid=106)

 By divine dispensation, on the Holy Saturday, a ship from Chios, which was travelling for Smyrna, arrived in front of the Monastery. In the evening of Easter Monday, the father superior dressed Agathangelos with the great and angelic Schema and the brothers saluted him with tears, praying to the Lord to help him with the struggle of physical exercise. Agathangelos and Germanos boarded the ship and, on St. Thomas Sunday, they arrived to Smyrna. Next Thursday, after they shaved him, they dressed him with Turkish [clothes] and gave him in his hands a wooden cross and an icon with the Resurrection of Christ. Later, he came to the judgment place of the impious people, he was asked what he wanted and said that he had a difference with his former master. They invited that Turk and asked Agathangelos and what is the difference that he had with him. The Saint replied with courage: “When that man hired me to work for him, I was a Christian. He made me a Turk by force but I am a Christian again and I believe in Jesus Christ, which I avow as true God”. The Hagarines that were there started scolding him and, then, he pulled the Cross and the icon of the Resurrection of Christ out of his clothes and raised them, he was preaching Christ again and condemned their impure religion. For a long time, they were flattering him promising many earthly possessions, but the martyr was silent and he was praying. After the flatteries, they started the big threats and the tortures and, afterwards, they sent him to the governor. He used similar ways and because the confessor stayed firm in his confession, they put him in prison.

St. Agathangelos the New Martyr depicted being held by the Resurrected Christ (http://agioritikesmnimes.pblogs.gr/files/f/319451-01.JPG)
  
The next day, they led him again at the judgment place and on the way they were threatening him with the sword, but he probably desired the sword. They led him again in front of the judge and the governor and they didn't manage anything with bigger promises and threats because the confessor wasn't even listening to them, but he was saying the blessing and was preaching Jesus as true God, so they threw him again tied up in prison. He, then, heard there in prison that the Christians were interceding for his acquittal and immediately wrote a letter pleading and imploring them to God not to act in this way, but to let the impious people torture him as they wanted and for the Christians only to pray that God would help him in his road. When this letter was read in front of the bishop and the elders, they all praised God in tears and letters of the father superior Euthemios, who was also pleading that the Christians were praying for the athlete, were read. Indeed, according to the bishop's and clergymen's advice, the Christians had a long prayer that night, praying in tears.

The next day, the executioners grabbed him and brought him to the place of martyrdom. Until the last moment, the servants of fallacy did not stop trying to distort him, but he wasn't even listening to them and he was only praying “Lord Jesus Christ Son of God, have mercy on me”. He was [beheaded] on the fifth hour of Saturday, April 19th, 1819.

Icon of the Martyrdom of St. Agathangelos (taken from: http://www.esphigmenou.gr/index_en.php?mid=4&sid=106)

 Who can, however, narrate the joy and the elation that the Christians felt with the Martyr's winning and the glory of God? They were glorifying God and were praising the Martyr and they were saying “We have tried many times various joys at times, but this joy that we got from the martyrdom of the Saint, not only have we never felt it, but neither can we express it with words”. The Martyr's body, which worked miracles and gave off a sweet smell since it was still in the place of martyrdom, was placed, according to a testimony, in the grave of the Saint New Martyr Dimos in Smyrna.

According to another version, though, the Saint's venerable relics were thrown to the precinct of the Church of Saint George of Smyrna. The Great Ekonomos Constantine from Ekonomoi, who was then (1808-1809) staying there as a Teacher of the celebrated School of Smyrna, was notified and went down to the Church, the precinct of which communicated with the School, and the sight of the holy relics of the martyr of Christ and of the Nation, instead of the “Come for the last kiss” [the final hymns of the Orthodox funeral service, when the people embrace the departed for the last time], he composed the following hymn:

“The crowd of the people of Smyrna lets glorify with songs our protector and the shoot of Ainos, who he fights, the warm and good holy martyr Agathaggelos. Because he confronted bravely the unfavorable and he defeated him. For that, he is among the martyrs in the sky having a crown on his head and he prays for us to the only philanthropos” (27, “Thrakika” Volume 10, p. 376)
  
[«Πληθύς η των Σμυρναίων εν ωδαίς ευφημήσωμεν ημών πολιούχον και της Αίνου το βλάστημα, πρόμαχον θερμόν Αγαθάγγελον ιερομάρτυρα εσθλόν· επλάκη γαρ γενναίως τω δυσμενεί και τούτον κατηκόντισεν. όθεν στεφηφορών ουρανομάρτυσι συναγάλλεται υπέρ ημών εξευμενίζων τον μόνον φιλάνθρωπον»(27. «Θρακικά» Τόμος 10ος, σ.376.)]

The holy relics of the New Martyr Agathangelos were buried in the precinct of the Church of Saint George of Smyrna in the root of the perennial plane-tree and his grave was saved until the Asia Minor Catastrophe in 1922."

Another icon of St. Agathangelos the New Righteous Martyr, holding the Precious Cross and an icon of Christ's Resurrection (taken from: http://www.esphigmenou.gr/index_en.php?mid=4&sid=106)

"From the holy relics of the Saint Martyr Agathangelos, in the Monastery there are the left hand and foot, one [rib] and the skull.

Like it is mentioned in the letter of February 19th 1884 of the Church-wardens of the Church of saint George of Smyrna and its Elders, sealed with the seal of the Common of the city of Smyrna and the seal of Church of saint George, it is made known and verified with the signature of the [Metropolitan] of Smyrna Athanasios: “that according to the just application of the Father Superior Agathangelos Priest-monk, together with his colleagues from the Monastery of Esphigmenou, with a letter that was published on February 10th, gave to the emissary there, the venerable Makarios, the left hand and foot, one [rib] and the skull of the New Martyr Saint Agathangelos, who was beheaded in this town, and which undoubtedly and unhesitatingly genuine Relics of the passed away New Maryr etc”.

Another icon of St. Agathangelos (Icon courtesy of www.eikonografos.com used with permission)

Ἀπολυτίκιον. Ἦχος δ’. Ταχὺ προκατάλαβε.
Ἀσκήσεως νάμασι, καταρδευθεῖς τὴν ψυχήν, Μαρτύρων ἐξήστραψας, μαρμαρυγᾶς φωταυγεῖς, σοφὲ Ἀγαθάγγελε, ὅθεν ἐν ἀμφοτέροις, ἀκριβῶς διαπρέψας, ἤσχυνας τοὺς ἐξ Ἄγαρ, τὸν Χριστὸν μεγαλύνας. Αὐτὸν οὒν ὁσιομάρτυς, ἠμὶν ἰλέωσαι.
  
Apolytikion of St. Agathangelos in the Fourth Tone (amateur translation)
Your soul drank of the waters of asceticism, you shown forth among Martyrs, you were radiantly glaring, O wise Agathangelos, therefore graciously, as is truly fitting, you shamed those from Hagar and magnified Christ. Him therefore entreat O Righteous Martyr that he be merciful to us.

Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.
  
St. Timothy the New Righteous Martyr of Esphigmenou - Martyred in Adrianoupolis on the 29th of October 1820
"The saint came from the village of Parastra of the Kisaniou province of Thrace. The baptismal name was Triantaphyllos [Rose]. He was married and had two daughters. His wife, however, one day, in synergy with the devil, she left him and married a Turk. After some time she realized her problem, but she could not easily change back to her former faith. Her husband Triantaphyllos thought then, in order to save her from the hands of that Turk, to superficially embrace Islam and then the two of them become monastics.

He went to court and said, if they would give him back his wife he would agree to become a Muslim. With great pleasure the court approved the request and, after the circumcision was performed, he was given back his wife.

After a few months they left secretly and went to Kydonies, where his wife entered a convent and he left for Mount Athos.

Initially he worked as a gardener in the Holy Monastery of Great Lavra, where he was tonsured a monk named Timothy. There he heard of the martyrdom of Saint Martyr Agathangellos of Esphigmenou who was martyred that year and the desire for martyrdom was born within him.

He came to the Holy Monastery of Esphigmenou where he received and the angelic schema. Because his desire for martyrdom continued to grow, he begged the abbot Euthemios to give him the blessing to confess. The abbot told him to be patient, for him to be tested. Seeing however his growing desire, his tears and his spiritual state he finally gave his blessing and supplied the required letters to Hiero-teacher Hermanos, who lived on the coast of Marmara, imploring him to accompany Timothy and to support him in martyrdom.

Germanos gave him wordly clothes to wear and went with him to Kisanio. There Timothy was presented to the judge and said:

"I was a Christian and I want to die a Christian."

The judge was angered, bound him in prison and decided to have him killed. The next day he sent him tied to the pasha of Adrianople, who threw him in jail with his feet in wooden torture device.

At the end of October he bade him come forth and tried to convert him to Islam. Seeing how firm his opinion was, however, he ordered his beheaded.

The executioners took him, bound him and led him to the place of execution. There the martyr knelt and was beheaded, while his holy relic was thrown in a river.

In Esphigmenou Monastery is preserved a part of the bloddy clothes of the Saint. [According to another source, they were placed in the same container as the relics of St. Agathangelos. Thus, relics of St. Timothy are beside those from whom he derived great influence, zeal, and grace for martyrdom.]"


Apolytikion in the Fourth Tone
Thy Martyr, O Lord, in his courageous contest for Thee received the prize of the crowns of incorruption and life from Thee, our immortal God. For since he possessed Thy strength, he cast down the tyrants and wholly destroyed the demons' strengthless presumption. O Christ God, by his prayers, save our souls, since Thou art merciful.

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!