Theodore of Tiberiopolis

Holy Hieromartyr Theodore of Tiberiopolis, a bishop, is one of the sixteen martyrs of Tiberiopolis (now Strumica). In the second half of the fourth century a monastic brotherhood flourished at Tiberiopolis. In the persecution of Julian the Apostate, in 361, sixteen members of the brotherhood received the martyr's death for Christ. They are the bishops Theodore and Timothy, the priests Theodore, John, Nicephorus, Peter and Sergius, the deacons Basil and Thomas and the monks Daniel, Eusebius, Hierophilus, Comasius, Socrates, Chariton and Euthymasius.

The local population kept their memory. After the First Balkan War, when Strumica passed to Bulgaria, the Greeks of the town moved in 1913 to Kilkis and other places in Macedonia. They took with them part of the holy relics, the hand of the holy priest Peter, one of the sixteen martyrs, which since then has been at Kilkis, in a church that bears his name. Their service was printed three times, in 1741, 1830 and 1930. In 1967 the sixteen martyrs of Tiberiopolis were proclaimed patrons of Kilkis.

Theodore is commemorated on 11 December, according to the Greek tradition. Their names are not included in the present Menologion of the Russian Church.