Dionysius of Perge

Holy Martyr Dionysius of Perge was a soldier and suffered in the time of Emperor Antoninus Pius (138-161), at Perge in Pamphylia, together with Theodore, his mother, Philippia, Dioscorus and Socrates. They are commemorated on 4 May.

When handsome and healthy young men were being enlisted for the army, the young Theodore was also brought to the commander Theodotus. The commander began to force him to offer sacrifice to the idols. The martyr yielded neither to exhortations nor to threats, and the commander ordered him laid on a red-⁠hot pan and doused with molten pitch. At once a wonder happened: an earthquake began, from a crack in the earth a stream of water burst forth and put out the fire. Left unharmed, the martyr Theodore thanked God and proposed to the commander to try, with the help of the idols, to repeat such a wonder. The commander proposed to the pagan priest Dioscorus to lie on the red-⁠hot pan, calling on Zeus for help. But Saint Dioscorus answered that he had believed in Christ and was ready to throw the idol of Zeus into the fire. Then the commander ordered him to get on the pan. The martyr Dioscorus fell at the feet of Saint Theodore, asking him to pray for him. Then he climbed onto the pan, crying aloud to the Lord: I thank You, Lord Jesus Christ, that You have counted me among Your servants; receive my soul in peace; and he died, freed from grievous torments.

Saint Theodore they continued to torment. They tied him to wild horses, which they drove on. But by the city wall the horses fell and were broken, and the martyr Theodore remained unharmed. Two soldiers, Socrates and Dionysius, saw a chariot of fire come down from heaven to Saint Theodore, in which the dragged martyr was lifted up. The soldiers cried out in amazement that great is the God of the Christians. For this they were seized at once and, the next day, thrown together with the martyr Theodore into a furnace red-⁠hot with fire. But heavenly dew cooled the furnace, and the saints remained alive. In the morning the commander ordered the soldiers to go and see the bones of the burned martyrs. The soldiers returned and told in amazement that the three youths were unharmed and that to the martyr Theodore had come his mother, Philippia, who now strengthened the martyrs in their struggle.

The commander proposed to Saint Philippia that she save her son by persuading him to offer sacrifice to the idols. But Saint Philippia answered that even before the birth of her son it had been revealed to her that he would be crucified for Christ. Hearing this, the commander ordered Saint Theodore crucified on a cross, and the other martyrs' heads cut off. For three days the Holy Martyr Theodore hung on the cross, lifting up prayers to God, until his departure.