Theodore of Melitene

Holy Martyr Theodore of Melitene is commemorated in the company of martyrs around the Holy Hieron, who suffered at Melitene. The calendar page we rely on tells their passion together and says nothing in particular about Theodore.

Hieron, a strong man of Tyana in Cappadocia, born of a pious mother, Stratonike, refused to serve in the pagan army of the emperors Diocletian and Maximian, at the command of the governor Lysias. After putting the soldiers sent for him to flight, he stayed for a time hidden in a cave with eighteen Christians, then set out for Melitene at the gentle urging of a friend, after taking leave of his mother, an old and blind widow. On the road he had a vision that told him he would soon receive heavenly glory. At Melitene he was shut in prison with thirty-⁠three other Christians, who resolved together not to bow to idols. Lysias tried them, cut off Hieron's hand and beat the others, and then, after five days, condemned them all to death by the sword. The martyrs went to execution singing a psalm and prayed the Lord to receive their souls.

Theodore is commemorated on 20 November (new style), that is 7 November by the old calendar.