Themistocles of Myra

Holy Martyr Themistocles of Myra was a shepherd in the district of Myra in Lycia, in Asia Minor, and was put to death in the third century because he would not give up a hunted Christian. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on 21 December (3 January by the new calendar, in the Serbian Church). He is one of the lesser-⁠known saints.

The sources do not agree on the time. According to the Serbian source, he was martyred in the time of the emperor Decius Trajan, in the year 251. According to the Greek source, he lived in the time of Diocletian (284 to 305), who, after founding the Tetrarchy, began the persecution of the Christians.

During the persecution, Saint Dioscorus was pursued by Asclepius, the governor of Lycia. But he found refuge with Saint Themistocles, a shepherd of the region, who hid him and protected him. When the soldiers found Themistocles, they asked him whether he knew anything of Dioscorus. Though he knew, he would not tell, but told them to let him go and not take him to the judge, for he would kill him, and that both were Christians. Then they seized him and handed him over to Asclepius, who ordered him tormented.

He endured terrible torments. They stretched his limbs and scourged him on the belly so hard that his inner organs were seen. They flayed his body with iron combs, after hanging him on a piece of wood. Then he told Asclepius that Christ too saved the world from sin on such a wood. In the end Asclepius ordered him put to death. He was dragged over nails set on the ground and so he died.