Hieromartyr Damascene the New of Gabrovo

Damascene the New of Gabrovo was a Bulgarian hieromonk and new martyr of the eighteenth century. He is commemorated on January 16.

By the accounts he was born in the village of Gabrovo, in the diocese of Trnovo in Bulgaria, and as a young man went to the monastery of Hilandar on Mount Athos. There he was ordained deacon and then priest and fulfilled various obediences in the monastery.

By the tradition he was hanged by the Ottoman Turks at Svishtovo in the year 1771, having been falsely accused while defending his people; for this confession he is venerated as a new hieromartyr.