Anthony of Supraśl () was a Ruthenian

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

and

martyr A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' Word stem, stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In ...

, now venerated in the

Polish Orthodox Church The Polish Autocephalous Orthodox Church (), commonly known as the Polish Orthodox Church, or Orthodox Church of Poland, is one of the autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches in full communion. The church was established in 1924, to accommodate O ...

Biography

Anthony was born on the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

territory into an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

family, although his social status and

lay name A legal name is the name that identifies a person for legal, administrative and other official purposes. A person's legal birth name generally is the name of the person that was given for the purpose of registration of the birth and which then ...

remain unknown. According to tradition, he was known for his angry character in his youth, having eventually killed a man in a bar brawl. Wishing to atone for sin, he entered the

Supraśl Orthodox Monastery The Monastery of the Annunciation in Supraśl (; ; ), also known as the Supraśl Lavra is a monastery in Supraśl in north-eastern Poland in the Podlaskie Voivodeship. Today it belongs to the autocephalous Polish Orthodox Church and is one of six E ...

sometime before 1506, where he received the name Anthony. Considering his penance insufficient, Anthony asked the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

for permission to go to a Muslim country, where he might receive martyrdom, which was then refused. Anthony only received permission to go to

Mount Athos Mount Athos (; ) is a mountain on the Athos peninsula in northeastern Greece directly on the Aegean Sea. It is an important center of Eastern Orthodoxy, Eastern Orthodox monasticism. The mountain and most of the Athos peninsula are governed ...

, where he vowed

Great Schema The degrees of Eastern Orthodox monasticism are the stages an Eastern Orthodox monk or nun passes through in their religious vocation. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, the process of becoming a monk or nun is intentionally slow, as the monastic ...

and took the monastic name Onuphrius. He then went to

Thessalonica Thessaloniki (; ), also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, Salonika, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece (with slightly over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area) and the capital city, capital of the geographic reg ...

, into the Church of the Theotokos Acheiropoietos, which had been converted into a

mosque A mosque ( ), also called a masjid ( ), is a place of worship for Muslims. The term usually refers to a covered building, but can be any place where Salah, Islamic prayers are performed; such as an outdoor courtyard. Originally, mosques were si ...

, and began to pray demonstratively as a Christian. He was arrested for

blasphemy Blasphemy refers to an insult that shows contempt, disrespect or lack of Reverence (emotion), reverence concerning a deity, an object considered sacred, or something considered Sanctity of life, inviolable. Some religions, especially Abrahamic o ...

and thrown into prison. As was the custom in the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

at the time, the kadi offered to pardon him in return for his

conversion to Islam Reversion to Islam, also known within Islam as reversion, is adopting Islam as a religion or faith. Conversion requires a formal statement of the '' shahādah'', the credo of Islam, whereby the prospective convert must state that "there is none w ...

, which he consistently refused while attacking the religion. Finally, he was sentenced to

burning at the stake Death by burning is an execution, murder, or suicide method involving combustion or exposure to extreme heat. It has a long history as a form of public capital punishment, and many societies have employed it as a punishment for and warning agai ...

. Going to the place of execution, Anthony continued to denounce Islam, and even spat on the face of one of the guards. At this point, he was fatally hit by a club. His body was burned.

References

*Charkiewicz, J. ''Święci ziemi białoruskiej''. Bratczyk, Hajnówka 2006, *Mironowicz, A. i M. ''Święty Antoni Supraski''. Białystok 2014. {{authority control 1516 deaths 16th-century Eastern Orthodox martyrs Christian saints killed by Muslims Christians executed for refusing to convert to Islam People associated with Mount Athos