“I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, until You judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth? Then a white robe was given to each of them...” (Revelation 6:9-11)

Beginning with the martyrdom of the Deacon Stephen recorded in Acts chapter 7, throughout history men and women have been so devoted to the Lord that they preferred to die rather than to deny Him or compromise the Faith. They believed and lived the words of their Savior: “...whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it”. (Matthew 16:25) While the Romans martyred thousands of Christians in the first, second and third centuries, more Christians have been martyred for their faith in the 20th century than in the first three hundred years of Christianity. One such
example is the priest Basil Martysz who ministered both in America and in Poland.

Early Life

The Holy Martyr Basil Martysz was born February 20, 1874 in the village of Tertyn in southeastern Poland. His father, Alexander was a judge and after retirement become an Orthodox priest. In 1884 Basil made a trip with his father to New York where his beautiful singing attracted the attention of Bishop Vladimir. The bishop predicted that one day Basil would become a priest and that he would welcome him to come serve his diocese in America. After finishing his secondary education, Basil entered the seminary in Chelm whose rector was St. Tikhon, later a bishop in America and then Patriarch of Russia.

To America

In 1889 Basil married Olga Nowik, was ordained a priest, and departed Poland for America. The young priest and his wife were assigned to far off Alaska where he served under the omofor of Bishop Tikhon, the newly appointed bishop of the American missionary Diocese. Father Basil’s Alaskan parish covered a vast territory. Headquartered in the village of Afognak, he would be gone for weeks at a time to minister in the outlying villages, often traveling by kayak. In 1901 he oversaw the construction of a new church in Afognak named in honor of the Nativity of the Theotokos. The church remains standing and has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Because of the difficult life in the severe climate of Alaska, and out of concern for his wife and two daughters who were born in Alaska, the family transferred in 1906 first to serve the parish in Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania and in 1908 to the parish in Old Forge, Pennsylvania. Eventually they were blessed with another son and a daughter and then transferred to Canada where he was assigned as the dean for the parishes of Alberta and Manitoba. Despite his successful ministry in America and their comfortable lifestyle, Father Basil and Matushka Olga missed their homeland and their family in Poland. After a twelve year ministry in America, the family returned to Poland in 1912.

Return to Poland

Back home in familiar surroundings Father Basil was assigned as a parish priest in the city of Sosnowiec and teacher in a high school for girls. With the outbreak of the First World War, the Martysz family evacuated to the safety of Russia where he was offered shelter in the St. Andronik Monastery in Moscow. He continued serving as a priest in a parish in Valdai but with the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 lost this position and had to support his family by unloading railroad cars.

With the end of the war in 1919, the family returned to Poland and their home in Sosnowiec. Father Basil was given a new assignment to begin the Orthodox chaplain service in the Polish army.  Father Basil was promoted to the rank of colonel and continued in this ministry as head of Orthodox army chaplains for twenty-five years. With his vast ministry experience he became a close advisor of the Metropolitan of Warsaw and All Poland and worked with the Holy Synod to obtain autocephaly (independence) for the Orthodox Church of Poland. Upon his silver jubilee of ordination, the Secretary of the Army, Lucja Zeligowski sent him a telegram of congratulations:

The virtues of this remarkable talented, conscientious and diligent servant, completely devoted to the Polish nation, expressed in his receiving a high distinction, the “Order of Polonia Restituta” which is conferred upon him for his efforts in securing the Autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Poland.

Father Vasily retired from active ministry in 1936 and with his matushka returned to Tertyn. Their quiet, peaceful life ended in 1939 when the Germany army invaded Poland. His beloved Matushka Olga fell asleep in the Lord in 1943 and Father Basil remained in the care of his daughter Helen and her family. In 1945, shortly before the surrender of the German Nazis, his home was attacked. While his friends encouraged him to leave for his safety he replied: “I have done no harm to any one and I will not run away from anyone. Christ did not run away.” On May 4 his home was again attacked and Father Vasily was tortured only for the crime of being an Orthodox priest. His pregnant daughter Helen was also beaten and as result had a miscarriage. Father Vasily was beaten for hours and when he became unconscious, cold water was thrown on him to revive him only to be beaten again. The attackers finally ended his suffering with a gunshot and turned their attention to his daughter. Helen knelt before the icon of Christ and began to pray and the attackers lost their nerve and left. On Holy Saturday, the day before Pascha, Father Vasily was buried in the cemetery in Tertyn. In 1963 his relics were brought to Warsaw and laid to rest next to that of his wife. The Holy Synod of the Orthodox Church of Poland canonized Father Basil as a new martyr on March 20, 2023 and his relics were placed in the church of St. John Climacus in Warsaw.

His Example for Us 

“Be faithful till death, and I will give you a crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10) St. Basil Martysz lived this promise of Christ. He was not a miracle worker nor an ascetic but a husband, father and priest, faithfully serving the people under his care in America, Poland, and the Polish Army. This is our challenge as well: to be faithful to Christ in all things, at all times, until the very end of our life. This is not as easy as it appears. So many of us struggle to keep His most basic, simplest command. The command to “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy” and “....not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching”. (Hebrews 10:25) Any reason to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together” is acceptable today especially soccer, football, or baseball practice on Sunday mornings. This temptation is as old as the Christian Faith. The devil never tires of trying to prevent us from gathering for worship and to receive Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Even in the 4th century, St. John Chrysostom admonished his people:

We run eagerly to dances and amusements....We enjoy the foul words of actors for hours without getting bored. And yet when God speaks we yawn, we scratch ourselves and feel dizzy. Most people would run rabidly to the horse track, although there’s no roof there to protect the audience from rain, even when it rains heavily or when the wind is lifting everything. They don’t mind the bad weather or the cold or the distance. Nothing keeps them in their homes. When they are about to go to church, however, then the soft rain becomes an obstacle to them...

...It seems that the distance sways the Christians to negligence. The martyrs shed their blood for the Truth, and are you concerned about such a little distance [to the church]? They sacrificed their lives for Christ, and you don’t want to toil even a little? The Lord died for your sake, and are you too bored to come to church, preferring to stay at your house? Nevertheless, you must come, to see the devil being defeated, the saint winning, God being glorified and the Church triumphing.
(Against Games and Theaters)

May the example of the Holy Martyr Basil Martysz and of all the holy martyrs encourage us to struggle to remain faithful to the Lord in all things so that we too, like them, may receive the crown of life.

- Father Edward Pehanich