Socrates of Perge

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

When handsome and healthy youths were being chosen for the army, the young Theodore was brought with others to the commander Theodotus. The commander demanded that he sacrifice to the idols; heeding neither entreaties nor threats, Theodore was laid on a red-⁠hot pan and drenched with molten pitch. At once a wonder happened: an earthquake began, a stream of water burst from a crack in the earth and quenched the fire. Theodore remained unharmed and praised God, then proposed that the commander repeat the same wonder with the help of the idols. The commander told the pagan priest Dioscorus to lie on the pan, calling on Zeus, but Dioscorus, who had come to believe in Christ, said he was ready to throw the idol of Zeus into the fire. He was forced to climb on the pan; he fell at the feet of Theodore, asked him to pray for him, climbed up crying out, "I thank You, Lord Jesus Christ, that You have numbered me among Your servants. Receive my soul in peace," and died.

Theodore was tormented further, bound to wild horses; at the city wall the horses fell and were broken, and he stayed unharmed. Two soldiers, Socrates and Dionysius, saw a fiery chariot come down from heaven to Theodore and lift him, and cried out, "Great is the God of the Christians." They were seized and the next day were thrown with Theodore into a red-⁠hot furnace, but a heavenly dew cooled it, and they remained alive. The next morning the commander sent soldiers to see the bones of the burned, and they returned amazed: the three youths were unharmed, and Theodore's mother, Philippia, had come to him and was strengthening him. The commander asked Philippia to save her son by urging him to sacrifice, but she answered that before his birth it had been revealed to her that her son would be crucified for Christ. Theodore was crucified on a cross, and the other martyrs were beheaded. For three days the martyr Theodore hung on the cross, praying until the end.

Socrates is commemorated on 4 May, in the new style.