Timothy of Tiberiopolis

Holy Hieromartyr Timothy of Tiberiopolis, a bishop, is one of the sixteen martyrs of Tiberiopolis (now Strumica) whose memory the Greek tradition keeps. In the second half of the fourth century a monastic brotherhood flourished in this city, and in the persecution of Julian the Apostate, in 361, sixteen of its members accepted martyrdom 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, Hierotheus, Comasius, Socrates, Chariton and Etimasius.

The local people kept their memory. After the First Balkan War, when Strumica passed to Bulgaria, the Greeks of the city 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, which has been in Kilkis ever since, in a church that bears his name. The service in their honour was printed three times, in 1741, 1830 and 1930, and in 1967 the sixteen martyrs of Tiberiopolis were proclaimed patrons of Kilkis.

Saint Timothy is commemorated on 11 December, according to the Greek calendar, in the new style. Their names are not included in the present calendar of the Russian Orthodox Church.