Venerable-Martyr Gennadius of Dionysiou

Gennadius was a monk of the Monastery of Dionysiou on Mount Athos who was martyred at Constantinople in 1818. He is commemorated as one of the New Martyrs who suffered under Ottoman rule, and he is remembered on April 6.

According to the synaxarion, the abbot (igoumen) of Dionysiou sent Gennadius to accompany two fellow monks, Boniface and Eudokimos, who were traveling to Constantinople in order to confess Christ and become martyrs. In the city the two companions lost heart, denied Christ, and betrayed Gennadius to the authorities, telling them that he had come to Constantinople to seek martyrdom. Gennadius was arrested, imprisoned, and tortured, and pressed to renounce his faith and accept Islam. He remained steadfast in his confession of Christ and was beheaded on April 6, 1818.