Страдание святого мученика Феодора

During the reign of Emperor Antoninus 2687, when Perga Pamphylia 2688 was ruled by the military leader Theodotus, handsome and strong-bodied young men were recruited here for military service. Together with other young men of good birth, the now remembered most beautiful blessed Theodore was taken and brought to the military leader Theodotus. The military leader placed a military sign on him, like on the other young men. But Saint Theodore immediately threw him off, saying: – I was marked from my mother’s womb by my Heavenly King, the Lord Jesus Christ, and I do not want to be a warrior for another king. Then the military commander asked the saint: -What kind of king are you a warrior for? – I am a warrior of the King who created heaven and earth! The military commander, guessing that Theodore was a Christian, asked him: “Will you make sacrifices to our gods?” “I have never made and will never make sacrifices to unclean demons,” answered the saint. Then the military commander ordered him to be brutally beaten, after which he again called him for interrogation and asked: “Have you come to your senses now, will you obey me and worship the gods?” “If you,” answered the saint, “knew the God who created you, then you yourself would want to worship Him.” After this, the military commander ordered to build a fire, bring a huge iron frying pan, melt a large amount of resin, sulfur and wax, put the martyr naked in the frying pan and pour boiling resin over him. When all this was being prepared, God suddenly performed a wondrous miracle: a deafening noise was heard and an earthquake occurred in the very place where the fire and the frying pan were; then the earth in that place parted and water flowed out in abundance from the earth’s cleft, which extinguished the fire and the frying pan. The holy martyr remained completely unharmed and said to the military commander: “Behold, you see that this work was not accomplished by me, but by Christ, my God, whom I serve.” If you want to know the power of your gods, then prepare another fire, light the frying pan again and order in the name of your gods to put one of your soldiers on it, then you will see the powerlessness of your gods and know the omnipotence of my God. Hearing this, the soldiers who were here said to the ruler: - No, sir, do not do this to us, but do this to the servants (priests) of our gods. The frying pan will obey the priest just as much as Theodore and will not scorch him as it did the first. Having ordered to immediately invite the priest, the commander asked him: “Dioscorus,” answered the priest, “is my name.” Then the commander asked the priest: – What magical herbs do Christians smear when they go fearlessly into the fire and remain unscorched there, as for example was the case with Theodore today? “Christians are not magicians,” Dioscorus answered, “but the name of Christ is so powerful that where it is invoked with faith, all kinds of magical spells are destroyed and demons tremble.” “Is it really,” asked the military leader, “that Christ is stronger than our Zeus?” 2689 “Zeus and all the other gods are insensitive and deaf idols,” answered Dioscorus, “and I beg you not to force me to lie down on the frying pan, but if you want to know the power of Zeus, then it is better to put him on the fire.” “But who can do this,” continued the military leader, “who would dare to put God on the fire?” “Command me,” answered Dioscorus, “and I will do it.” If Zeus resists me, then I will believe him that he is a god and can free himself from the fire. “You really are no longer a priest after you make such speeches regarding the gods,” the military leader noted. “I,” answered Dioscorus, “did like you in an ungodly faith as a priest, but now, seeing blessed Theodore invincible from the torments you imposed on him, seeing him not scorched by fire, I came to know the power of Christ and understood the powerlessness of false gods, became established in the faith of Christ and now wish to imitate Theodore.” “If you say so, Dioscorus,” said the military leader, “then climb into the frying pan like Theodore.” Then Dioscorus, falling down before the martyr of Christ, said to him: - Servant of Christ, the true God, Theodore, pray for me. And the saint prayed for Dioscorus. When Dioscorus was undressed and laid on a hot frying pan, he cried out in a strong voice: “I thank You, Lord Jesus Christ, that You number me among Your servants.” So, accept my soul in peace. At these words, he gave up his spirit, having received the crown of martyrdom in such a short time, just as the thief on the cross received paradise. After the death of blessed Dioscorus, Saint Theodore was imprisoned. Then they took him out from here again for another torment: they tied his legs and tied him to wild horses that dragged the martyr through the city streets, and they were violently dispersed. The driven horses in one place near the city wall fell and were broken, and meanwhile the martyr was saved by the invisible power of God and, being untied, remained safe and sound to everyone’s surprise. Two of the warriors who tied the saint to the horses, Socrates and Dionysius, told everyone about their next amazing vision: while the horses were being driven, they saw a fiery chariot descending from heaven to the martyr, which took him and placed him unharmed at the place of judgment. Telling everyone about this, the soldiers cried out: - Great is the Christian God! Hearing these words, the military commander ordered these soldiers to be imprisoned with Saint Theodore and prepared a furnace for tormenting them, heating it with strong fire for three days. Then he threw the martyr and both soldiers who believed in Christ - Socrates and Dionysius - into this oven. And immediately a certain Divine dew fell from above, which watered the martyrs and cooled the flame. The saints stayed in the middle of the oven, as if in some cool place, and had a conversation with each other. At the same time, Saint Theodore remembered his blessed mother, captured by foreigners three years earlier and taken along with other captives to Ethiopia in 2690, and prayed to God for her, saying: – Lord Jesus Christ, God who works miracles! Show me in what ways You Yourself know, by Your Divine power, my mother, for I desire to see her. For You, everything is possible. Show it to me, so that others may know Your greatness. When the saint prayed in such words, the flame gradually died out and, moreover, through the prayers of the martyr, rain came down and completely cooled the red-hot oven, and the saints began to prepare for sleep in it, for it was already night. Then the Angel appeared in a dream to Saint Theodore and said to him: “Don’t grieve, Theodore, about your mother: you will see her.” Waking up from sleep, the saint told the dream to his friends; and while he was talking about this, his mother named Philippia appeared in the middle of the oven and, seeing her dear son, was delighted, lovingly kissed him and the soldiers who were with him and told him where and how she came here, led by an invisible hand. At this time, the holy martyr Theodore, raising his hands to heaven, gave due thanks to God. In the morning, the military leader, waking up from sleep, said to his entourage: “I think that not a single bone remains from Theodore and the soldiers thrown into the oven with him.” While he was saying this, one of the watchmen guarding the oven came to the military leader with the news that the martyrs thrown into the oven were alive and that in the evening all the fire had gone out, extinguished by the rain that poured down from above; then he said that Theodora’s mother, who suddenly appeared from captivity, was sitting in the oven as if in a palace, talking about the Christian God with her son and with the soldiers. Hearing this, the military commander fell into fear and horror, he himself went to the stove and, calling blessed Philippia, asked her: Then the commander said: “Admonish your son to worship the gods, so that he does not perish and make you childless.” “My son,” she answered, “as I received information about him from my Lord before his conception, he will be crucified by you and will offer a sacrifice of praise to God.” “Since you yourself appointed death on the cross for your son,” said the military leader, “then so be it.” Then the military commander ordered Saint Theodore to be immediately crucified, and Saint Philippia’s head to be cut off with a sword; two warriors, Socrates and Dionysius, were beheaded with swords. In this way the holy martyrs received their crowns. Saint Theodore hung alive on the cross for three days, and then also departed to the Lord 2691. Then some of the pious, taking the bodies of the saints, wrapped them in expensive linens and, anointing them with perfumes, placed them with honor in a special place prepared for this, glorifying the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit - the One God in the Trinity, glorified forever. Amen. Antoninus Pius - was emperor from 138 to 161. Pamphylia is a narrow coastal country in the south of Asia Minor, which became a Roman province in 78 BC. Zeus is the main god of the ancient Greek religion, considered the ruler of heaven and earth. Ethiopia or Nubia is a region in Africa located south of Egypt. The death of the holy martyrs followed on the floor. II century You might be interested in: