d. 1820
A monastic martyr of Esphigmenou Monastery on Mount Athos, of whom no detailed life survives.
Timothy of Esphigmenou was a monk of Esphigmenou Monastery on Mount Athos who was martyred by beheading on October 29, 1820, during the period of Ottoman rule. He is venerated as a Holy New Venerable Martyr.
The Orthodox Church in America's synaxarion lists him for October 29 as 'Monastic Martyr Timothy of Esphigmenou, Mount Athos' but records no biographical details. A fuller account survives in other sources, which relate that he was born in Thrace as Triantaphyllos, briefly conformed outwardly to Islam in order to rescue his wife from apostasy, and later embraced the monastic life and martyrdom for openly confessing Christ.
According to the surviving account, Timothy was born under the name Triantaphyllos in the village of Paraora, in the district of Kessane in Thrace. He married and had two daughters.
His wife was beguiled by a Turk, converted to Islam, and abandoned her family. Triantaphyllos hid his daughters with relatives in a nearby village and sent his wife an urgent message urging her to repent. She responded positively but could not immediately escape her situation.
In order to rescue his wife, Triantaphyllos presented himself before the Turkish judge and asked to be circumcised as a Muslim. The couple then returned to their village, outwardly appearing as Muslims while secretly continuing to practice Orthodoxy.
Both eventually arranged for relatives to adopt their daughters and vowed to enter the monastic life. His wife entered a convent in Kydonies. Triantaphyllos traveled to Mount Athos and entered the Great Lavra Monastery, where he labored as a gardener; upon receiving monastic tonsure he was given the name Timothy.
After six years, inspired by the martyrdom of Saint Agathangelos, he transferred to Esphigmenou Monastery.
Timothy traveled to the Hellespont with two companions, the Hieromonks Euthymios and Germanos. Dressed as a layman, they preached the Christian faith to Muslims in his former village.
He was arrested and imprisoned in Adrianople together with other confessors. Sentenced to be beheaded, he was martyred on October 29, 1820. The account relates that his face was radiant with peace and joy, which dismayed the executioners.
His body was thrown into a river by the Turkish authorities. The Hieromonk Germanos later purchased Timothy's bloodstained clothing and delivered it to his daughters, recounting their father's martyric end; additional clothing was sent to Esphigmenou Monastery.
Esphigmenou Monastery stands on the northeastern coast of Mount Athos. Athonite tradition attributes its founding to the Byzantine emperor Theodosius II and his sister Saint Pulcheria in the 5th century, though this cannot be confirmed by historical or archaeological evidence; the earliest documented references appear in manuscripts from the late 10th or early 11th century, including a letter of 1016.
Over the centuries the monastery received support from rulers including John V Palaiologos, Stefan Dušan, Đurađ Branković, and Tsar Alexis I of Russia, and its southern structures were rebuilt by Patriarch Gregory V of Constantinople in 1797.
Timothy is commemorated on October 29 and is counted among the New Martyrs who suffered under Ottoman rule after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. He is venerated as a Holy New Venerable Martyr.
His life exemplifies those who, having temporarily renounced the faith under duress or for strategic reasons, later returned to openly witness for Christ and accept martyrdom. No date for a formal act of glorification is specified in the available sources.
Honest stub; OCA gives no life details.