Kanonizacja nowomęczenników okresu niewoli tureckiej w Kościele prawosławnym i ich znaczenie
Canonization of the new-martyrs of the Ottoman period in the Orthodox Church and their importance

Summary/Abstract: Article is devoted to the issue of the canonization of the so-called new-martyrs of the Balkans in the Orthodox Church, the issue that has not been in the Polish language studied yet. It concerns the saints who died for Christ after the conquest of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. The considerations on the subject is preceded by a short introduction on the role of the martyrs in the Church. Article also refers to the issue of nomenclature, i.e. the definition of the term “new martyr”, and its appearance in Christianity. Nearly 300 of the new-martyrs of the period of Ottoman slavery are known by the name. This group includes people of different social groups: the hierarchy, the rulers, the monks, married priests and lay people. It is probably only a small part of people who have suffered the death during this period in defense of Orthodoxy. The researchers divided them into four groups, which, the author presents. Their cult for centuries was limited because of the fear of consequences from the Turkish authorities. Only part of them was canonized after 1821, when as a result of uprising the independence of the Greece was proclaimed. The article also contains a part in which the importance of the new-martyrs of the Ottoman period for the Orthodox Church and its faithful is explained. Their importance was emphasized already by their contemporaries. This importance is multi-faceted and refers to the role of the Church plays from its beginning by the martyrs.

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