Страдание святого мученика Феодота и с ним семи дев: Фаины, Клавдии, Матроны, Текусы, Иулии, Александры и Евфрасии

Having experienced for myself many of the benefits of the holy martyr Theodotus, says Nil, the writer of the life of the holy martyr, I consider myself obliged not only to praise his suffering deeds in word, but also to thank him in deed; and although I cannot accomplish this perfectly either in word or in deed, I will, however, try to do what I can, for it seems to me very necessary to bring to the attention of the lovers of God and their spiritual benefit the story of the life of the holy martyr Theodotus, as well as the story of his suffering. Some say about him that he initially lived the way the majority and other sinful people of this world live, for he also cared about acquiring the blessings of this world; they say that, having entered into a legal marriage, he bought a hotel for the sake of the income of his estate. However, his whole life is crowned and adorned by his martyrdom. Let them say what they want about him, but I will talk about him, everything that I, who lived with him, saw with my own eyes, and I will also tell about those conversations that I was vouchsafed by the saint. Long before his martyrdom, the saint did many good deeds. Thus, he fought in every possible way against carnal lusts; although he was in a legal marriage, he waged a struggle with his flesh, subduing it to the spirit, according to the word of the Apostle: “those who have wives should be as if they have not” (1 Cor. 7:29), the saint was so successful in this virtue that he could be a teacher of purity and chastity to many others. The saint abstained in every possible way from lust and all sinful impurity and enslaved his body to the spirit through fasting and abstinence. Considering fasting to be the beginning and foundation of every good deed, the saint armed himself with it, like a shield, preparing for spiritual warfare. The saint considered the killing of the body to be the duty of every Christian; The saint overcame his thirst for wealth and the acquisition of property by diligently distributing all his wealth to the poor. It is instructive in his life that, despite owning a hotel, he made a rich spiritual purchase and acquired many human souls for God; the reason for this was that Saint Theodotus, under the guise of tavern work, fulfilled the duty of the Apostleship; with his inspired teachings and conversations, he brought many Greeks and Jews to Christ, and prompted many sinners to repent of their sins. Saint Theodotus also had the gift of healing ailments: with the laying on of his hands and prayer, he healed many bodily diseases, and with his words he healed mental ulcers. The reason for the suffering of Saint Theodotus for the name of Christ was the following. A certain hegemon, named Theoteknos, took over the region of Ancyra in Galatia 3276. This hegemon was a very cruel and wicked man; he amused himself with the spectacle of blood and murder, but his wickedness was so great that it is difficult to convey in human words. Theoteknos, accepting the power of hegemon from King Diocletian 3277, promised him to soon convert all Christians living in Ancyra to paganism. And indeed, when Theoteknos arrived in Ancyra, the Christians fell into such great fear and trembling from the mere news of his arrival that they immediately fled from that place; the village was deserted, and the deserts and mountains were populated by fugitives. Theotekn sent messengers on his behalf, one after another, who traveled everywhere and proclaimed the strict order of the emperor, commanding that Christian churches be destroyed and razed to the ground, and that all those professing the name of Christ should be imprisoned and thrown into prison, where Christians would remain awaiting fierce torment; at the same time, the property of Christians was to be taken away and plundered. At this time, the Church of Christ was likened to a ship, very distressed in the midst of large waves and afraid of sinking in the depths of the sea, for the wicked pagans attacked the houses of Christians, plundered their property, without any shame they removed from their houses men and women, young men and maidens, and dragged them either to the places of their wicked sacrifices or to prison. It is difficult to retell all the troubles that Christians had to endure at that time. Many priests fled from their temples for fear of torment; the doors of the temples remained open; however, the fugitives themselves did not find a place where they could hide from the persecution of the pagans. When the property of the Christians was plundered, a famine set in, as severe as the very torment of the pagans. Then many of the Christians, hiding in the mountains and deserts, not being able to endure the torment of starvation, came to the pagans and surrendered into their hands, hoping for mercy on their part. It was hard then for all the fugitives who tried to find shelter in the deserts and mountains: it was especially hard here for those Christians who had previously lived in contentment and abundance and saw no need; Now such Christians had to gnaw on the roots that they found in desert places and eat various weeds. At this very time, blessed Theodotus worked very hard to fulfill the commandments of the Lord, abandoning himself without fear to many dangers; he did not hunt for the purpose of acquiring gold, as some say about him, but he acquired an inn for himself in order to provide refuge and repose in it for all persecuted Christians. In addition, he was very concerned about Christians who were in prison, but he hid Christians who were fleeing from pagan tormentors with him; he also fed all the Christians hiding in the mountains and deserts; He buried the bodies of the holy martyrs, thrown out by the pagans to be devoured by dogs, animals and birds, secretly (it should be noted that the hegemon ordered those Christians who buried the bodies of their brothers to be put to death; therefore, Blessed Theodotus abducted them and secretly buried them). Thus, the house of Saint Theodotus was both an inn and at the same time a refuge for Christians, since Theodotus, who was considered an innkeeper, did not incur suspicion among the pagans that he was a Christian. And the saint was a saint for everyone: a patron for those persecuted, a nourisher for those who were hungry, a doctor for those who were ill, a strong affirmation for those who doubted, a teacher of faith and piety, a mentor to a godly life and a motivator to the feat of martyrdom. At this time, the wicked hegemon Theoteknos ordered that blood sacrificed to idols be sprinkled everywhere on all food and drink sold in the markets. He did this for the sake of Christians, intending to force them, even against their will, to eat food defiled with blood sacrificed to idols; As a result, it was impossible to offer sacrifices to the true God in Christian churches, since in the entire city there was no bread or wine that had not been defiled by the pagans. Having learned about this, Saint Theodotus began to distribute to the faithful the livestock, wheat and wine that he had purchased in advance and which he had in abundance. Distributing food and drink everywhere and feeding many Christians at home, Theodotus likened his inn to Noah’s ship, which saved everyone in it from the waters of the flood (Gen. 7:1–24). For just as then, under Noah, no one could be saved from the waters of the flood, except those who were in Noah’s ark, so now in our city (says the writer of the life of St. Theodotus), not a single Christian could save himself from desecration with abominations sacrificed to idols, if he did not go to Theodotus’ house. Thus, the Theodotov hotel turned into a hostel, and into a prayer church, and into an altar for the priests of God, who performed the bloodless Divine Sacrifice here. Everyone ran to Feodotov’s house like to a ship during a flood. Such was the livelihood of this blessed Theodotus, such was his purchase and acquisition. But enough about that. We will also tell about other deeds of the holy martyr. During this persecution raised against Christians, it happened that one friend of Theodotov, named Victor, was taken by the pagans and for the following reason: some of the priests of the Artemidines 3278 slandered the hegemon against Victor, saying that Victor blasphemed their goddess, expressing himself in such a way that Apollo 3279 raped his half-sister Artemis and desecrated her in the Case before altar 3280, and noting that the Hellenes should be ashamed of such their gods - fornicators, who allowed themselves to do such vile things that chaste people cannot even hear about. Having taken Victor, who had been so slandered, the hegemon ordered him to be imprisoned. Many Greeks came to the prisoner, who admonished him with flattery, saying: - Fulfill the orders of the hegemon; then you will be honored with great honor, you will be a friend of the king, you will receive from him many different riches and you will begin to live in the royal chambers. But if you don’t listen to the hegemon, think about what torment awaits you; then your entire house and property will be plundered, all your relatives will be exterminated, and your very body, after many fierce torments, will be given up to a bitter death and thrown out to be devoured by dogs. They told Victor this and much more. The guardian of piety, Theodotus, came to Victor’s prison at night and strengthened him for the feat ahead, telling him this: - Under no circumstances, Victor, do not listen to those flattering speeches that the wicked pagans tell you, do not accept their evil advice, do not follow in their footsteps, do not leave us, do not prefer filth and wickedness to chastity and do not love untruth more than truth. Don't do this, oh my friend! Do not do this, knowing that those wicked people are trying to draw you into destruction with their crafty and flattering promises. Was it not with these promises that the Jews deceived Judas the traitor? Did the thirty pieces of silver that he received from them benefit him? He did not acquire anything else for himself with those thirty pieces of silver except the rope on which he hanged himself (Matthew 27:3-5). Never think that you will receive anything good from the evil ones, since their promises prepare eternal death.” With these and similar words Saint Theodotus strengthened Victor in piety. And Victor, indeed, courageously endured his feat as long as he remembered the words with which Saint Theodotus admonished him. Everyone who looked at the saint’s suffering praised his glorious feat. When the very end of his martyrdom approached and the time had come for his departure from this world, Victor asked the tormentor to stop his suffering for a while, so that he would have time to think within himself. Immediately the servants of the hegemon stopped the torment and took Victor to prison. But Victor died in prison from his wounds, leaving the end of his confession unknown. After this, blessed Theodotus went to a village called “Malos” and located fourteen stadia from the city. The saint went here because he learned that here he completed his martyrdom and was thrown into the river called Halios, the holy martyr Valens, who had previously suffered in Midikini. Theodotus went to this village, however, did not enter it, but stopped near it, on the river, at a distance of two fields from that village. Having found the relics of the holy martyr, Theodotus buried them with honor. When he was returning from there, he met some Christians who, when they saw him, greatly thanked him as the benefactor of all Christians; in particular, they thanked him for one great benefit shown to the saint by them, namely: when the altar of Artemidin was destroyed, these Christians were handed over to the hegemon for torment; but Saint Theodotus redeemed them after much trouble, and redeemed them at a considerable price. It was for this that the Christians now bowed to him, welcoming him and sending him gratitude. The saint, expressing his joy at meeting them, invited them to taste food with him. Having found one elevated and beautiful place, they reclined on the grass; There were many beautiful trees growing in that place, there were many flowers, and birdsong was heard everywhere. Before starting to eat the food, the saint sent two of them to the village for a priest, with whom he would bless their meal and partake of the food with them, and then admonish them with the usual prayers (it should be noted that Saint Theodotus was accustomed to always eat food with the blessing of the priest and even, if possible, in his presence). When the messengers approached that village, they saw a priest leaving the church after singing the sixth hour, however, they did not know that it was the presbyter of that village. Noticing that the dogs that were in that village were barking loudly at the travelers, the priest approached them and, driving away the dogs, greeted them, and then asked: -Are you Christians? If you are Christians, then come into my house, so that we may rejoice in the love of Christ. – Yes, we are Christians and we are looking for Christians. The priest, smiling, said to himself: - Pediment! (that was his name). See how your sleepy visions come true! Then, turning to the travelers, he said: “Last night I saw in a dream two husbands very similar to you; they told me: we have brought treasure to this area”; since it seems to me that you are very similar to those men, then tell me: what treasure did you bring with you? “Indeed, we have with us a husband, blessed Theodotus, more precious than any treasure; If you want, you can watch it, but first show us the priest of this village. - I am the one you are looking for. Let us go and bring the man of God to my house. After this, everyone went to Saint Theodotus. When the priest saw Theodotus, he greeted him with love; He also greeted other Christians, and then began to beg everyone to come to his house. But Saint Theodotus did not want to go, saying: “I am in a hurry to come to the city as soon as possible, for a great feat has now begun for Christians; Therefore, I must, to the best of my ability, serve my brothers who are in trouble and in great danger. After this, the priest said a prayer, and then everyone began to eat food. At the end of dinner, Theodotus the saint said to the presbyter with a smile on his face: – How beautiful this place is and how convenient it is for burying holy relics! The priest answered him: - Take the trouble to bring us honest relics here. Saint Theodotus answered this: - Just take the trouble, father, to build a prayer church on this place, in which the holy relics could be placed, and soon the martyr’s relics will be brought to you. Then the saint took the ring from his hand and, giving the ring to the priest, said: “Let the Lord be a witness between you and me that soon the relics of the martyr will be brought here.” The saint said this, prophetically predicting the position of his relics here, for with all his soul he strove for the feat of martyrdom. Then Saint Theodotus came to his city and to his house and found everything here in great plunder and destruction, as if there had been a great earthquake. In that city lived seven pious virgins, raised from a young age in piety and the fear of God, who maintained physical and mental purity and who betrothed themselves to the incorruptible and immortal Bridegroom, Christ, the Son of God. Leading a pious and godly life, these virgins reached old age; The eldest of them was Tekusa, who was the aunt of Saint Theodotus. Having taken these holy virgins, the hegemon gave them over to various torments; but since the torment could not shake their faith, he gave them to the prodigal youths for desecration, reviling them and swearing at Christian piety. When those virgins were led to desecration, then sighing from the depths of their hearts, lifting their eyes to heaven and raising their hands up, they began to pray to God in these words: - Lord Jesus Christ! You know with what attention and zeal we observed our virginity as long as it was in our power; but now shameless youths have gained power over our bodies. Keep us pure, in the ways You Yourself know. When the holy virgins prayed with tears to God in such words, one shameless young man attracted the eldest of the virgins, Tekusa, intending to defile her. She grabbed him by the legs and said to him with tears: - Child! What pleasure our body, exhausted by old age, fasting, illness and torment, as you can see for yourself, can give you! I am already over seventy years old. And my other sisters are a little younger than me. It is not appropriate for you, such young people, to touch bodies that are already dead, which you will soon see eaten by animals and birds, since the hegemon has almost sentenced us to death. Do not harm us, and you will receive a reward for this from our God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Saying this, Saint Tecusa took off the veil from her head and, showing the young man the gray hair of her head, again said to him: - Child! Be ashamed, for you too have a mother, as I think, as old as I am, if she is still alive; if she died, then, remembering her, leave us, and you will receive a reward from our Lord Christ, for hope in Him is not in vain. These words of Tekusa brought this young man and his comrades into emotion; abandoning their carnal lust, those young men began to cry and walked away from the holy virgins, without causing them any harm. When Theoteknos learned that those virgins were not desecrated, he abandoned the idea of ​​forcibly desecrating them and ordered them to be priestesses of the goddess Artemis, and their duty was to wash, according to pagan custom, idols in the nearest lake. The day of washing the idols arrived, which was celebrated very solemnly by the pagans. Having placed the idols, each on a special chariot, the pagans publicly drove them with singing and rejoicing to the lake. The pagans, by order of the hegemon, carried holy virgins before the idols, each on a separate chariot; virgins were naked for the amusement and desecration of the pagans. All citizens came out to this festival in order to listen to the sound of trumpets, cymbals and the singing of women walking through the streets with open heads and loose hair. From the noise and trampling of the crowd of people, as well as from the sounds of trumpets, it seemed that the whole earth was shaking. Hegemon Theoteknos, the spawn of vipers, the servant of the devil, walked along with all the people. The pagans looked at the naked virgins, some of them indulged in laughter, others were amazed at their patience and courage, while some, regretting their bodies, exhausted by wounds, cried in tenderness and were contrite at heart. When this unholy celebration took place under such circumstances, Saint Theodotus was in very great sorrow for the sake of the holy virgins, since he was afraid that one of them, due to the weakness of female nature, would weaken in the suffering feat and lose hope for the help of the Lord Jesus Christ. Having thought about this, Theodotus very earnestly began to pray for the holy ascetics, asking God to strengthen the holy virgins in their feat. To pray, Saint Theodotus shut himself up together with his relative Polychronius, with young Theodotus, also a relative, and together with other other Christians in the house of a poor Christian named Theocharides, located near the church in honor of the holy patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Pavnitsa, Theodotus and other Christians who prayed with him lay on the ground, praying from the first hour of the day until the sixth, until Theocharides’s wife announced that the bodies of honest virgins had been drowned in the lake 3281. Hearing such news, Saint Theodotus rose somewhat from the ground; then, kneeling, he raised his hands to heaven and, shedding many tears like raindrops, prayed in these words: “I thank You, Master, for You heard the voice of my crying and did not make my tears vain!” Then he began to ask Theocharides’ wife how the virgins were drowned in the water and in what place, whether near the shore or in the middle of the river. She told him: “I stood near that place along with other other women and saw that the hegemon had been exhorting the virgins for a long time to serve the idols by washing them and promised them many gifts - however, the hegemon was not at all successful in his request, but was even more ashamed by the reproachful words of Saint Tekusa. The priests of Artemis and Athena 3282 offered them white robes and decorated crowns, so that in these robes and crowns they would wash the idols. But the martyrs, taking those clothes and crowns, threw them to the ground and began to trample them underfoot. Then the hegemon ordered heavy stones to be tied around the necks of the saints, then, placing them on boats, he ordered them to be taken to a deep place and thrown into the water. They were thrown into the water two stages from the shore. Hearing about this, the saint consulted with Polychronius and Theocharides until the evening on how they could remove the honorable bodies of the holy martyrs from the water in order to bury them. At sunset, one Christian young man named Glycerius came to them and said that the hegemon had placed a guard of soldiers at the lake, and ordered the guard to watch so that the bodies of the martyrs were not taken from the lake. Hearing about this, Saint Theodotus was very sad, since it was not easy for him now to take the bodies of the holy martyrs, partly because of the guards, and partly because of the heavy stones tied to the necks of the saints; These stones were so heavy that they could barely be transported in chariots. In the evening, Theodotus went to the nearby Church of the Holy Patriarchs, the entrance to which was blocked by pagans so that Christians could not enter it. Arriving at the church, the saint threw himself down on the ground before it and prayed for a long time. Then, getting up, he went to the entrance to the church; but seeing that the entrance to it was blocked, he stopped and stood there again to pray. Hearing shouting and talking somewhere to the side and thinking that the pagans were pursuing him, the saint immediately got up and went to Theocharides’ house. Here he fell asleep for a short time. His aunt, Saint Tecusa, appeared to him in a dream and said: “You are sleeping, son Theodotus, and do not care about us at all.” Don't you remember how I taught you when you were still a youth? Don’t you remember how I guided you in a virtuous life, replacing your father and mother? And when I was alive, you never insulted me, but you always respected me like your own mother. But now, after my death, you have forgotten me, although you should have served me until the end of your life. But, I ask you, do not leave our bodies in the water, so that they do not become prey for fish, but try to quickly remove them from the water, since two days later you yourself will go to the feat of martyrdom. Getting out of bed, go to the lake, but beware of the traitor. Having said this, the saint left Theodotus. Having awakened, Theodotus told the other Christians who were in that house about his vision, and everyone began to pray to the Lord with tears, asking Him to help find the bodies of the holy martyrs. Blessed Theodotus, reflecting on the vision, wondered what the last words spoken to him by Tekusa meant: “beware of the traitor.” But then these words were justified, as will be seen from the following narrative. When morning came, Theodotus sent the aforementioned young man Glycerius, together with Theocharides, to find out more precisely about the soldiers standing near the river, since he thought that they had left because of the festival of the goddess Artemis, which the pagans celebrated that day. The messengers set off, but saw that the soldiers had not yet left; Having returned, they announced this to other Christians, and everyone spent that day in fasting and prayer. When evening came, the Christians, not yet having tasted food, headed to the lake, taking with them sharp sickles with which they could cut the ropes tied around the necks of the holy martyrs. It was very dark at that time, since neither the moon nor the stars shone that night. When everyone approached the place where death sentences were being carried out on villains and robbers (and this place was very terrible, so no one dared to pass here after sunset; corpses, bones and heads cut off from bodies were lying here, and some of the heads were stuck on sticks), then everyone came into great fear, however, they soon took courage, as they heard a voice saying: - Go with boldness, Theodotus! Having listened to these words with reverence, everyone made the sign of the cross. And immediately a bright cross appeared in the air from the eastern side, emitting fiery rays in all directions. Seeing this cross, everyone rejoiced and became afraid; and then, falling to their knees, everyone bowed to the holy cross and prayed to the Lord. Rising after prayer, everyone headed to the lake; but since at this time the vision of the cross disappeared, it again became so dark that no one could see each other. At this time it began to rain, as a result of which the road became slippery, which made the journey very difficult. Then everyone began to pray, asking God for help in such trouble, and immediately a fiery lamp appeared, showing the way; At the same time, two honest men in white robes, who had gray hair on their heads and beards, appeared to Saint Theodotus and said to him: - Be bold, Theodotus, for our Lord and God Jesus Christ wrote your name among the names of the martyrs, having heard your tearful prayer for the finding of the bodies of the brides of His saints. We are sent by Him to help you; we belong to the ranks of those fathers, before whose church you prayed last night. When you come to the lake, you will see the martyr Sosander here, armed, intimidating and driving away the soldiers guarding the lake, however, you should not lead a traitor with you. Having said this, the saints became invisible. Saint Theodotus never found out who the traitor was from among those walking with him. Following the appeared lamp, everyone approached the lake. At this time, thunder rose, lightning flashed, heavy rain poured down, and a terrible storm began; the warriors standing on the shore of the lake, very frightened, fled from there, and they were afraid not so much of thunder, lightning and storm, but of a terrible vision; for they saw a very large man who had armor, a shield and a spear in his hands; he had a helmet on his head; a bright radiance emanated from that husband all around. This was the martyr Sosander. Horrified by such a vision, the soldiers fled, overcome by great fear. Meanwhile, the water in the lake was driven by the wind from one side of the lake to the other, so that the bottom of the lake was exposed and the bodies of the holy martyrs lying on the bottom of the lake appeared to the eyes of Christians. Approaching the holy martyrs, the Christians cut off the ropes with sickles that tied the stones to the necks of the martyrs; then, taking the honorable bodies, they put them on chariots and drove them to the Church of the Holy Patriarchs, where they buried them with honor. The names of those martyrs were as follows: Tekusa, Alexandra, Claudia, Faina, Euphrasia, Matrona and Julia. These holy virgins suffered on the eighteenth day of the month of May. The next morning, it became known in the city that the bodies of the holy martyrs had been taken by Christians from the lake. Having learned about this, the hegemon, the idolatrous priests and all other pagan idolaters were filled with great rage, so much so that they brought in interrogation every Christian they happened to meet on the street. At this time, many Christians were taken for interrogation and given a cruel, painful death; they were torn to pieces by their tormentors, as if with the teeth of an animal. When Saint Theodotus learned about this, he wanted to give himself into the hands of the pagans, but his relatives kept him from doing so. Polychronius, having changed his clothes and taking on the appearance of a farmer, came to the city square to find out about everything that was happening in the city, but was immediately captured by the pagans and presented for questioning to the hegemon. Polychronius received many beatings and wounds from his tormentors, but remained silent. When he saw the sword raised above his head, he was very frightened and told the tormentors about how the innkeeper Theodotus took the bodies of the holy martyrs from the lake and buried them at the church built in honor of the holy patriarchs. Having learned about this, the pagans immediately went to the place where the honorable bodies of the holy martyrs were buried, dug up their graves and burned their bodies; After this, the pagans went in search of Theodotus, which was announced to him secretly in the evening of the same day. At this time, Saint Theodotus realized that Polychronius was his relative and friend and was the traitor whom the holy patriarchs commanded to beware of. Deciding to give himself up to torture, Theodotus spoke to his relatives like this: - Pray for me to the Lord, Jesus Christ, our God, that He may grant me the crown of martyrdom. And everyone prayed with him throughout the whole night, and Saint Theodotus prayed in these words: - Lord Jesus Christ, hope for the desperate, help me to courageously accomplish my feat of martyrdom and accept my blood, which my tormentors will shed, as a sacrifice offered to You for all persecuted Christians. Ease their suffering, calm the fierce storm of persecution, so that the believers may be in peace and quiet. When the day came, the saint decided to go to the tormentors and betray himself into their hands. Having learned about this, all his relatives wept and wept and, hugging him, said: - May you receive salvation, the luminary and adornment of the Church, honest Theodotus! At the end of your suffering, may you become a partaker of the heavenly light, may you be numbered among the host of Angels and Archangels, and may the glory of the Holy Spirit and our Lord Jesus Christ, sitting on the right side of God the Father, shine upon you. May all these blessings be granted to you for the feat for which you are performing. But know that for us, who remain in the midst of such troubles, your departure will bring a lot of grief and tears. When everyone was crying, saying such words, Saint Theodotus hugged and kissed everyone with his last kiss; then he ordered that his body, if he could be secretly taken from the tormentors, be given to the priest Fronto, who would come from the village of Malos with his ring. Finally, Saint Theodotus protected himself with the sign of the cross and courageously left his house. On the way, he met two of the senior citizens of that city. Wanting to prove their love and respect to him, they advised him to quickly hide somewhere and said: – The priests of Athena and Artemis, along with other pagans, slander the hegemon against you, saying that you advise all Christians not to worship insensitive stone and wood; they talk about you and much more; and Polychronius said about you that you secretly stole the bodies of virgins. Hide yourself, Theodotus, before it’s too late, for it is madness to give yourself into the hands of tormentors. “If you are my friends and if you really want to show your love for me, then do not hinder me on the path on which I am walking, but on the contrary, go to the court and tell the elders there: - behold, Theodotus, who is slandered by the priests and the people, stands here, before the doors.” Having said this, the saint hastily went forward and, standing in the middle of the judgment seat, began to look at the instruments of torment with a joyful face; there was a burning stove, and cauldrons with boiling water, and wheels, and many other instruments of torment. Looking at all this, the saint was not at all horrified in his heart and was not embarrassed in his thoughts, but continued to stand with a cheerful face, showing his courage to everyone. When the hegemon saw the saint, he said to him: “You will not suffer at all from any of the instruments of torment located here, if you make sacrifices to the gods; then you will be free from all the crimes of which both the priests and our entire city accuse you; in addition, - then you will be a friend to us and dear to the king, who will show you great honors; just deny Jesus, Whom Pilate, who ruled before us, crucified in Judea. Think about it, Theodotus! You seem to me to be a prudent person; a prudent person must act in everything with prudence and reasoning. Retreat from all madness; also convince other Christians to leave their madness, and then you will be the ruler of this entire city; You will then be a priest of our main god Apollo, who bestows many blessings on people, predicts the future and heals ailments with his medicine; if you serve this god, then you will receive the right to appoint other priests to serve all other gods. All appointments to all the most important positions will pass through you, you will be an intercessor before the judges; you will write messages to all nations on behalf of the king about the various needs of the people; You will be very rich, and all your relatives will be held in great esteem. If you need wealth and property, then I can give it to you, even now. While the hegemon was saying this, a loud cry was heard among the people, approving the words of the hegemon and exhorting Theodotus to accept wealth and honors from the hegemon. But Saint Theodotus responded to Hegemon Theoteknos in this way: - First of all, I ask for help from my Lord, Jesus Christ (Whom you called a simple man), so that He would enable me to expose your error and show the vanity of your gods; at the same time, in brief words, I will tell you the secret of the incarnation of my Lord and the miracles performed by Him. O Theotekn! I should tell you about my faith and about my deeds; but I will expose before you all, to your shame, the deeds of your gods, which are shameful to even speak of. The one whom you call Diem 3283 and whom you consider a god more glorious than all your other gods, gave himself over to such vile carnal lust that he can be considered the beginning and end of all evil. Your poet Orpheus 3284 tells that Dius killed his own father Saturn 3285, took his own mother Rhea as his wife and gave birth to a daughter Persephoron from her; but he did not stop there; he also committed adultery with his daughter and, in addition, had his sister Juno as his wife 3286; in the same way, Apollo desecrated his sister Diana before the altar on the island of Delos. In the same way, Mars 3287 was furious with carnal passion for Venus 3288, Vulcan 3289 for Minerva - siblings against siblings. Don't you see, hegemon, how vile are the iniquities of your gods? Doesn't your law punish everyone who commits such crimes? But you boast about such deeds of your fornicating gods and are not ashamed to worship parricides, incesters, adulterers, child defilers, and magicians (all your poets have written about all this, praising the abominable deeds of your gods). The deeds and miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ are pure and do not have a single blemish. All the holy prophets foretold the mystery of the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, saying that in the last times God will come to people from heaven, will live with people like a man, will work unspeakable signs and wonders, healing various ailments and making people worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven. And not only about the incarnation of the Lord, but also about His free suffering for us, about His death and burial, were predicted in advance with great accuracy by the same holy prophets; witnesses to this are the Chaldeans and the wise Persian Magi, who found the place of His birth by the star and came to Him with gifts in order to worship Him as God. The Roman soldiers who guarded His tomb were witnesses to His resurrection. They themselves saw how the Lord rose from the grave; They announced this to the bishops. But who can retell all the wonderful and glorious deeds that our Lord, Jesus Christ, did during His earthly life? First of all, He turned water into wine, then He fed five thousand people in the desert with five loaves and two fish, healed the sick, walked on the sea as if on dry land; the nature of fire was afraid of His power; He gave sight to the blind, He made the lame swift men; at His command the dead were raised; he resurrected and brought back to life the four-day-old Lazarus. All these glorious and wonderful miracles clearly show to everyone that Jesus Christ was the true God, and not a mere man. When the saint testified in such words about the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, all the pagans standing near that place fell into great confusion and began to make noise, like the noise of the sea from the wind. The priests tore their hair, tore their clothes, tore their wreaths; and the people became more and more worried and angrily asked the hegemon why he allowed such a blasphemer, worthy of death, to speak so much, and did not put him to death and torture? Then the hegemon, becoming even more angry, ordered the soldiers to strip the saint’s clothes, hang him naked on a torment tree and torment his body with iron tools; the hegemon himself rose from his place, intending to torture the saint with his own hands. At this time a whole storm arose from the cry of the people; the people shouted, demanded and ordered the hegemon’s servants to begin torment; the servants prepared the instrument of torture; and only one holy martyr continued to stand calmly, not at all embarrassed in his soul and not frightened in his heart. Theodotus was so calm that it seemed that the torment was not prepared for him. Then the saint was hanged from a tree. When the soldiers began to torment the saint’s body with iron claws without mercy, his face seemed to shine with joy, for he had the Lord Jesus Christ as his assistant. The saint was tormented like this for a long time. The servants were already exhausted and others replaced them. The martyr remained unshakable in his confession of the name of Christ, so that it seemed that he suffered not in his own, but as if in someone else’s body; He directed all his thoughts to the Lord Jesus Christ, who helped him. After some time, hegemon Theoteknos ordered the strongest vinegar mixed with salt to be poured onto the saint’s wounds, and then ordered candles to scorch the martyr’s honest ribs. The martyr, scorched by fire, feeling the stench emanating from his body being scorched on all sides, began to turn his face to the side; Noticing this, the hegemon immediately approached him and said: - Where are now, Theodotus, all your bold words? I see that you are overcome by torment. But if you had not blasphemed our gods and if you had bowed to them, you would not have suffered so now. But didn’t I advise you, a man of humble birth who was engaged in innkeeping, not to resist the command of the king, who has in his hands the power over your life and death? The holy martyr answered this: “Do not think, hegemon, that I am overcome by your torment, seeing that I have turned my face aside so as not to smell the stench from my scorched body.” You better order your servants to do what they are commanded with great diligence, since it seems to me that they are too lazy in fulfilling their duties. You yourself come up with some other, more severe torments for me, in order to find out how great the power of my Lord Jesus Christ is, strengthening me in the midst of these torments. Relying and trusting in the help of my God, I despise not only you, but also your king, as the very last captive. When the saint spoke thus, the hegemon ordered the soldiers to beat the martyr on the mouth and crush his jaws and teeth. The saint, accepting the beatings, said to the hegemon: “If you cut my tongue into pieces, you will still not have any success in your endeavors, for God and our Lord Jesus Christ listens to His silent servants.” After the saint had been tortured and tormented by the soldiers for a sufficient time, so that all the hegemon’s servants were tired, the hegemon ordered Theodotus to be removed from the torment tree and imprisoned until the next torment. The soldiers led Saint Theodotus through the entire city to prison. The saint’s entire body was ulcerated with wounds, through which Theodotus showed everyone his victory over the tormentor and over the devil. During the procession to prison, the saint was surrounded by a very large number of people, who looked at the martyr of Christ as if at some curious sight. The saint publicly confessed the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, saying: – See how great and glorious is the power of Christ my Lord. You yourself see that according to His dispensation, those who suffer for His holy name do not feel pain from wounds and torment; you see that He makes weak human flesh stronger than fire; you see that He gives such great courage and strength to people of humble origin, so that they regard the orders of the kings and princes themselves as nothing. Our Lord gives His grace to all who believe in Him, humble and noble, slaves and free, barbarians and Greeks. Then, pointing to his wounds, he said again: - Believers must make such a sacrifice to God and our Lord Jesus Christ, which He Himself suffered for us all. When the saint said this, he was led into prison and imprisoned here in a cramped and narrow place. Sixteen days after Saint Theodotus was imprisoned, the hegemon ordered a trial to be prepared in the center of the city, in the place where spectacles usually took place. The holy martyr was taken out of prison and presented at the trial seat. Seeing him, the hegemon said to him: “Come closer to us, Theodotus, because it seems to me that you, having been sufficiently punished earlier, have now abandoned all your pride and changed for the better.” Truly, you acted foolishly, bringing upon yourself such great torment. We didn't want to torture you. But now, leaving your stubbornness, know the strength and power of our gods; then we will reward you with those gifts that we talked about earlier. We promised you these gifts earlier, we promise them now; you will receive them if you worship our gods; but if you do not worship the gods, then you will immediately see the fire prepared for you, and sharp iron tools, and the mouths of beasts ready to tear you to pieces. The holy martyr answered this: - O Theotekn! Can you think of such torment that would crush the power of my Lord Jesus Christ, who strengthens me in the midst of torment? But although my body is already sufficiently ulcerated by the instruments of torment, as you yourself can see, test my strength again; give me over to new torments, and you will see that I will bravely endure them, just like the earlier torments. Then the hegemon ordered the saint to be hanged again on a torment tree and his body to be tormented with iron tools, renewing his old wounds. During his torment, the saint loudly confessed the name of Christ. Then the tormentor ordered the soldiers to remove the saint from the torment tree and drag him over the kindled shards. Then they hung the saint again on a tree and again tormented him with iron tools, so that not a single intact, unulcerated place remained on the martyr’s body: he was all like a continuous ulcer; only his tongue was intact, with which he glorified God, while he reviled the tormentors and soldiers as weak. Not knowing what other torment to betray the saint with, the hegemon issued an order condemning the saint to death and reading as follows: “We order that Theodotus, the defender of the Galilean faith, the enemy of our gods, the opponent of the royal commands and my blasphemer, be beheaded with the sword; his body should be burned, so that Christians could not bury him. And the saint was led outside the city, to the field, to be beheaded. A lot of people followed him, both men and women, who wanted to see his death. Having reached the appointed place, the saint began to pray to God in these words: – Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of heaven and earth, who does not forsake all who trust in Your holy name! I thank You for making me worthy to be a citizen of the heavenly Fatherland and a participant in Your Kingdom. I thank You for helping me defeat the serpent and erase his head. I pray to You, send down relief to Your faithful servants from the troubles that surround them; May the persecution raised against Your Church by the wicked pagans end with my death. Send peace to Your Church and deliver it from the slander of the enemy. Finishing the prayer and saying: “Amen,” the saint turned around and saw Christians crying for him. Then the saint said to them: - Do not cry for me, brothers, but rather glorify the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, who helped me courageously finish my feat and defeat the enemy. I will boldly pray to God for you in heaven. Having said this, the martyr bowed his honorable head to the sword and was beheaded on the seventh day of the month of June 3290. Meanwhile, the hegemon's servants brought a lot of wood to that place, built a fire and laid the body of the martyr of Christ on it, intending to burn it at the command of the hegemon. But suddenly, at the discretion of God, a great storm arose, a light appeared, shining around the body of the martyr like lightning, so that none of the soldiers dared to approach the wood and light it. When the hegemon found out about this, he ordered the soldiers not to leave the place and to guard the body of the martyr so that Christians would not kidnap him. Fulfilling the orders of the hegemon, the soldiers built themselves a tent of willow branches and reeds and sat in that tent, guarding the body of the martyr from Christians. Meanwhile, according to God’s dispensation, it happened that the priest Fronton passed by that place, having on his hand the ring of the martyr Theodotus. He walked from his village to a neighboring village and knew nothing about what happened to Saint Theodotus. Fronton was carrying very tasty wine on a donkey, which had been prepared for a long time; Fronton intended to sell this wine in the city, since he had his own vineyard and ate from it with his family. When Fronton approached the place where the tent with the soldiers stood and where the body of the martyr lay, the donkey stumbled and fell to the ground. Seeing this, the soldiers went to help Fronto and said to him: -Where are you going, wanderer? After all, night has already come. It’s better to stay with us, especially since there is also pasture for livestock. The priest agreed to spend the night with them and went to their tent (it should be noted that the body of the martyr was covered with branches and hay). A fire was lit at the tent and food was already ready. The warriors invited Fronton to eat with them. Fronto, taking a vessel from them, filled it with wine and invited the soldiers to drink from it. Having tasted the wine, the soldiers praised him, since the wine was indeed very good. Then the soldiers asked Fronto: – How old is this wine? The soldiers drank wine, not knowing that their guest was a Christian and, moreover, a priest; During the meal, the warriors talked with Fronto about what had happened in recent days; They told him how seven virgins were drowned because they did not want to wash the idols, how the innkeeper Theodotus took their bodies from the lake at night and gave them to burial, how the city authorities were looking for him for this, how he himself came to the trial and gave himself up to torture, how he bravely endured them, as if possessing an iron body. Then they said: “Here lies the headless body of the one we are guarding by order of the hegemon.” Listening to their speeches, the priest thanked God, who had vouchsafed him to learn about the suffering and death of the holy martyr Theodotus. Then the priest began to think about how he could take the honorable body of the martyr of Christ from here. Having filled the vessel to the top, he served it to the soldiers and told them that they could drink wine as much as they wanted. When the soldiers, having drunk, fell asleep, Fronton approached the honorable body of the martyr of Christ, exposed it and began to kiss it with tears; then, taking the ring from his hand, he placed it on the martyr’s finger with these words: - O holy martyr of Christ, Theodotus! You really did what I asked of you. Then Fronton tightly tied the martyr's honest body and head to his donkey and sent the donkey alone back to his village. And the donkey walked to the village of Frontonov, carrying the honorable body of the martyr; Fronton again placed branches and hay in the place where the body of the martyr lay, and, entering the tent, fell asleep. On the morning of the next day, Fronto got up very early and began to seem to regret the donkey, saying: - My animal ran away from here: did someone steal it? The soldiers sympathized with Fronto, not knowing that the martyr’s honorable body had been taken from here, since they saw that the branches and hay were lying in their place. Leaving the wine with them, the priest left their tent, as if to look for his donkey, but did not return to them, as he went to his own village. The donkey, according to God’s dispensation, came to the very place where Saint Theodotus once talked with Fronton and praised this place as very beautiful and convenient for the repose of holy relics here; on this very spot, the martyr of Christ advised Fronton to build a church and promised to send the martyr’s relics to it. Having reached this place, the donkey stopped and did not move forward until his master Fronton came and removed the honest relics from him. Then Fronton called Christians here and buried the holy relics of the martyr with honor, and subsequently built a church here in the name of the holy martyr Theodotus, for the glory of Christ our God. I, the humble Nile, wrote all this down (says the writer of the life of the holy martyr Theodotus); I wrote this for all my beloved brethren in Christ with great attention and zeal, for I knew the story of the life of the holy martyr and was with him in prison. Read with faith and love, so that you may receive the same fate in the Kingdom of Heaven with the holy martyr Theodotus and with all the saints who labored for piety and in order to rejoice in heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom glory, honor and worship are given along with the Father and the Holy Spirit forever. Amen. Having labored kindly with your sufferers, Theodoto, and accepted the crowns of honor with the honest passion-bearing virgins. Moreover, pray to Christ God unceasingly for all of us. Galatia is a region of Asia Minor. Emperor Diocletian ruled the Roman Empire from 284 to 305. Artemis or Diana is the goddess of hunting and patroness of forests. Apollo is the sun god, patron of the arts. This refers to the legend of Greek mythology about the adventure of the gods. It should be noted that the ancient Greek religion endowed its gods not only with various beneficent powers, art, knowledge, but also with the shortcomings characteristic of people of the lowest morality. The death of the holy virgin martyrs followed at the beginning. 4th century Athena or Minerva is the goddess of wisdom. Dius or Zeus is the supreme god of the ancient Greek religion, considered the ancestor of other gods. Orpheus is one of the prominent characters in ancient Greek mythology. Orpheus was considered the son of the Thracian king Eager and the muse Calliope. His lyre, according to mythology, made such wonderful sounds that wild animals came out of their lairs and followed him. Orpheus was considered a skilled poet, the founder of ancient Greek poetry. Saturn is the god of the earth and crops. Juno was considered the patroness of family life. Venus or Aphrodite is the goddess of love and beauty. Vulcan is the god of fire and metals. Death of St. The martyr Theodotus followed in 303 or 304 - The memory of the holy martyr is also celebrated on June 7, on the day of his death. His life is offered on the 18th day of the month of May because his martyrdom is closely connected with the martyrdom of the holy seven virgins commemorated on this day. You might be interested in: