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Holy Martyr Theodotus of Ancyra and 7 Martyrs of St. maidens: Tecus, Alexandra, Claudius, Faina, Euphrasia, Matrona and Julia Amid the horrors of the persecution of Christians, amid the fierce hostility of the persecutors, the soul calms down on the examples of Christian heights presented by the persecuted followers of the Christian teaching, full of meekness and love. One of these was St., glorified today by the Church. Martyr Theodotus. He, in the likeness of the Apostle Paul, was “all things to all people” at the time when the disasters of the persecution instituted by Diocletian broke out over Christians. The owner of an inn in the city of Ancyra, a Christian not yet discovered by the pagans, Theodotus zealously and in various ways helped his fellow believers; he sheltered them in his house from persecution, fed and provided food for all the hungry and deprived of shelter and property; encouraged and ransomed those imprisoned; The bodies of the dead martyrs, searching for and acquiring at a high price, were given over to Christian burial, although he knew that for this forbidden deed he himself was in danger of being tortured. And so it happened. By the way, at this time, seven virgins were taken, who lived into old age in chastity, who, for confessing the faith of Christ, were subjected to various tortures, after which they were thrown into the lake with stones tied around their necks. St. Theodotus, together with his relative Polychronius and some Christians, took out the bodies of the martyrs and buried them. In the morning, when they found out about this, the ruler of the city became extremely angry and ordered a thorough search for the culprits, and the bodies of the holy martyrs were taken out of the ground and burned. Among other Christians who were suspected in this regard, Polychronius was also taken. Out of fear of execution, he betrayed Theodotus. Having learned about this, Theodotus voluntarily, despite the possibility of hiding, went to the ruler. To the urging of all those present that he renounce Christ, Theodotus objected with a speech about the vanity of paganism and a sermon about Christ, which aroused the strongest indignation of the priests and people, who began to persistently demand the execution of the daring detractor of their gods. Theodotus was given over to the most severe tortures, and after 15 days of imprisonment and further tortures, he was put to death in 303 - All these martyrs suffered in Ancyra. Holy Martyrs Peter, Dionysius, Andrew, Paul and Christina Holy martyrs Peter, Dionysius, Andrew, Paula and Christina, who suffered for their confession of faith in Lampsacus during the Decian persecution from Optima, in 250.