Great Martyr
Great Martyr John the New of Suceava
ок. 1300 — ок. 1330
Also known as: Иоанн Трапезундский, Иоанн Белгородский (Аккерманский)
Great Martyr John the New — a Trebizond merchant, slandered by a jealous companion, tortured and beheaded by Tatars at Cetatea Albă (Akkerman); his relics were later translated to Suceava and became a treasure of Moldavia.
Great Martyr John the New was born around 1300 in Trebizond to devout Greek Christian merchants and followed his father into trade. On a business voyage to Cetatea Albă (Akkerman), then under Tatar rule, he debated matters of faith with a fellow traveler, a Venetian merchant, who — having lost the argument — spitefully slandered John to the Tatar ruler, claiming he intended to convert to Islam.
When John refused to renounce Christ, he was subjected to brutal torture: beaten with rods, dragged through the city streets tied to a wild horse, and finally beheaded around 1330. Local Christians buried his body, over which a miraculous light was seen, and his relics soon became a source of healings.
Over 70 years later, in 1402, at the urging of Metropolitan Joseph and Moldavian Prince Alexander the Good, the incorrupt relics were solemnly transferred to Suceava, the Moldavian capital, where they remain venerated to this day, and he became the patron saint of that city and of Moldavia.
His feast is kept on June 2/15.