Theodore of Galatia

Holy Martyr Theodore of Galatia suffered together with the Holy Martyr Meletius the General, with Stephen, John, Serapion the Egyptian, Callinicus the magician and Faustus, and with one thousand two hundred and eighteen soldiers with their wives and children.

In the time of the Emperor Antoninus Elagabalus (218 to 222), Meletius was commander of the Galatian region. A Christian, he prayed that God would put an end to pagan error. The demons in the idol temples entered dogs, which howled and terrified the inhabitants. Meletius, with his soldiers, killed the maddened dogs and tore down the temples, and was then seized and brought to trial before the governor Maximian. Because he refused to sacrifice to idols, he was tortured and died confessing Christ. The tribunes of his regiment, Stephen and John, were beheaded for their confession. The other soldiers, who had declared themselves Christians, were put to the sword with their wives and children; one thousand two hundred and eighteen people died in torments, according to some sources eleven thousand, around 218. Theodore and Faustus, with many others, were burned. Of the women and children who suffered, the names are known of Marciana, Susanna, Palladia and of the infants Cyriacus and Christian.

The Egyptian Serapion, who had come to Galatia, witnessed the struggle of Meletius and his company and, seeing how the faithful died for Christ, believed and was imprisoned; in prison an angel consecrated him bishop. Theodore is commemorated on 6 June (new style). The story of the martyrdom of Serapion, Callinicus, Theodore and Faustus was also written down by Saint Demetrius of Rostov.