Joseph of Theodosiopolis

Holy Martyr Joseph of Theodosiopolis, also called of Erzurum, suffered together with his brother Isaac in the year 808 for his faith in Christ. The Church commemorates them on 29 September (new style).

The two brothers were born in Theodosiopolis, also called Karnu, the present-⁠day Erzurum. Their father was a prominent Muslim and their mother a good and devout Christian, who raised them, and a third, older son whose name is unknown, in the Christian faith in secret. Having reached manhood, the three brothers, of whom only Joseph was married, wished to leave their Mohammedan father so that they could confess freely their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They wrote to Emperor Nikephoros I (802-811), asking his permission to move to Constantinople and to enter the service of the court. Having received a favourable answer from the Christian ruler, they began preparing for the journey.

The eldest soon left for Constantinople, but Joseph and Isaac were detained by order of the emir of Theodosiopolis. Asked why they wished to go, the brothers answered, to the astonishment of all present, their father among them, that they were Christians from birth and were fleeing from the unbelievers so as to confess their faith freely. Neither persuasion nor threats shook them. The emir called together a council of notables and condemned them to death.

At the place of execution, kneeling, Isaac and Joseph prayed to the Lord, and the executioner cut off their heads. This took place in 808. That night an unusually bright pillar of light came down upon their unburied bodies and stood over them. Struck by the sign, the Muslims asked the Christians of the city the next day to bury the bodies of the martyrs. Later a church dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity was built on the place of burial.