Theoprepius

Saint Theoprepius was a son of the holy senator Philetus and of Lydia, and he suffered together with his parents and his brother Macedon in the time of the emperor Hadrian (117-138). The synaxarion keeps a short account of their confession.

The family was seized in a time of persecution and was asked to deny Christ, but both parents and children remained faithful to their confession. Because the persecutors could not answer the wisdom of Philetus, they handed the family over to the duke Amphilochius, who hung Philetus and Lydia on a tree and flayed them. Then Chronides the commentariensis came to believe in Christ and was imprisoned with the other saints.

At night, while the saints were singing and praying, angels came and gave them courage for the contest of martyrdom. The next day they were brought before Amphilochius, who ordered them thrown into a bronze cauldron heated and full of oil and resin. The saints made the sign of the Cross and the cauldron grew cold. Seeing this, Amphilochius believed in Christ and cast himself into the cauldron, saying "Lord, help me", and a voice from heaven answered that his prayer had been heard. When the emperor learned that the saints had been preserved unharmed, he let them go free, and they ended their lives in prayer.

The saints are commemorated together on 27 March, according to the calendar of the Church of Greece (new style).