c. 1644 - 1662
A young Romanian taken captive who, resisting the lust and threats of his captor and refusing to deny Christ, was put to death at Constantinople.
The Holy New Martyr John the Wallachian
Saint John the Wallachian was a young Romanian martyr of the seventeenth century, put to death at Constantinople for refusing to deny Christ. Taken captive as a youth when Ottoman and Tatar forces ravaged Wallachia, he was sold into slavery and, resisting both the lust of his captors and repeated demands that he embrace Islam, sealed his confession of faith with his blood.
By the synaxarion's account John came from a pious and well-to-do family of Oltenia. After he killed the man who tried to violate him, he was carried to Constantinople and handed over to the dead man's widow, who over more than two years alternately attempted to seduce him and to force his conversion. He remained steadfast and was hanged on May 12, 1662, at roughly seventeen years of age. He is venerated as a New Martyr in both the Greek and Romanian Churches.
John's sanctity was recognized first within the Greek Orthodox world, where his martyrdom took place. The Romanian Orthodox Church formally glorified him in October 1950, and his feast is kept on May 12. He is numbered among the New Martyrs who suffered under Ottoman rule.