Holy Great Martyrs - warriors Theodore Tiron and Theodore Stratilates. The name Fedor in the Orthodox calendar (Saints) Chelter-Koba Monastery in Crimea

Saint Theodore Stratilates (+ in 319)- great martyr. St. Theodore was born at the end of the 3rd century after the Nativity of Christ in the village of Euchaites (now the town of Mesitesya, Turkey), not far (55 kilometers, one day's walk away) from the city of Amasia, in the Roman province of Pontus, Asia Minor. The Byzantine church writer of the second half of the 9th century, Nikita the Paphlagonian, in his work “Praise to St. Theodore,” calls Theodore Stratilates the nephew of St. Theodore Tyrone. If this statement is true, then St. Theodore Stratelates was the nephew of St. martyrs Eutropius and Cleonikos (presumably, maternal half-brothers of St. Theodore Tyrone) and a cousin (or full) brother of the Holy Martyr Basilisk of Comana (his memory is celebrated on March 3 and May 22 of the Art. Art.). The nickname Stratelates (Greek στρατηλατον) means military leader, governor (literally translated, a tall warrior) and indicates his belonging to the command staff of the Roman army.

Saint Theodore was endowed by the Lord with many gifts. He was distinguished from those around him by his natural beauty, generous heart, deep knowledge of Christian truths, wisdom and eloquence - “young in body, but old in the sense of his God-loving deed,” as the author of the Life of St. Theodore put it.

The bravery of St. Theodore Stratelates became widely known after he, like his elder relative St. Theodore Tyrone, defeated a huge, terrible serpent that lived in an abyss in the vicinity of Euchaitis. This snake was huge and scary. As he walked, the ground shook beneath him. The monster devoured many people and animals, keeping the entire area in fear. Saint Theodore, without saying anything to anyone, taking with him his usual weapon and having a cross on his chest, set off. Having reached a clearing with lush grass, located near the abyss where the serpent lived, the warrior of Christ let his horse graze, and he himself lay down to rest. In these places lived a certain pious wife named Eusevia, advanced in years (some ancient lives of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Tyrone call Eusebia the mother of Theodore Tyrone. According to the apocryphal Life of St. Theodore Tyrone, he saved his mother, who was kidnapped to the underworld by a dragon). Several years before this (or rather in 306), she asked the executioners for the body of the holy martyr Theodore Tyrone, which had not been burned at the stake during the execution, buried him near her house and celebrated his memory every year on the day of his repose on February 17 (March 2 of the new style). Eusevia, seeing the sleeping warrior of Christ Theodore Stratilates, woke him up and tried to convince him to leave these places so as not to suffer from the serpent. The courageous warrior of Christ Theodore answered her: “Go away and stand away from this place, and you will see the power of my Christ.” The woman walked away and began to pray to the Savior to grant victory to the brave warrior. Saint Theodore also turned to the Lord with a prayer: “Lord Jesus Christ, who shone forth from the Father’s Being, who helped me in battles and gave victory to the enemy, You are now the same Lord Christ God, send me victory from Your holy height.” Saint Theodore defeated the monster, glorifying the name of Christ among people. Then, according to the Life, he addressed words of support to his faithful horse as a person, convincing him of the omnipotence of God:

We know that God’s authority and power exist in everyone, both in people and in cattle, so help me, with the help of Christ, that I may overcome the enemy.

When the serpent appeared, Theodore’s horse began to trample it with its hooves, and then the monster found its death from the saint’s weapon. Glorified by the inhabitants of Euchait, grateful for their salvation, St. Theodore returned to the troops.

For his exploits, St. Theodore was appointed ruler of the city of Heraclea (in the north of Asia Minor, founded, according to legend, by Hercules himself, now Ergil, Zonguldak province, Turkey). Here Saint Theodore combined responsible military service with the apostolic preaching of the Gospel among the pagans subordinate to him. His ardent faith, supported by personal Christian example, turned many away from addictions. As a result, almost all the inhabitants of Heraclea converted to Christianity.

At that time, the eastern part of the Roman Empire was ruled by the pagan emperor Licinius (reign 308 - 324). Initially, he was tolerant of the faith of Christ. Together with St. Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine I the Great, Licinius was a co-author of the Edict of Milan (313), which granted Christians freedom of religion. But subsequently he initiated persecution of the followers of Christ in the lands under his control, suspecting them of sympathy for his rival, St. Constantine. These persecutions were not inferior in their cruelty to the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian:

« First of all, he expelled all Christians from his palace and thus, unfortunate, he deprived himself of their prayers before God, which, according to the custom and teaching of their ancestors, they offer for everyone. Then he ordered that all warriors who did not sacrifice to the demons be dismissed from service in each city and deprived of their ranks. ... Having reached the limit of madness, he rushed at the bishops, seeing in them, servants of God of all kinds, opponents of his activities. He acted out of fear of Constantine not openly, but secretly and cunningly, and with his machinations he destroyed the most famous. The method of murder was amazing, hitherto unheard of. What was done in Amasia and other cities of Pontus surpassed the most extreme cruelty. There, some churches were destroyed to the ground, and others were locked, so that their ordinary visitors would not be able to gather and perform the service of God... Flatterers from among his governors, wanting to please the wicked, subjected bishops to such punishments as only villains deserve, and innocent men without any investigation were taken into custody and punished as murderers. The end of some of them was hitherto unprecedented: their bodies were cut into many pieces with a sword and after such a barbaric spectacle they were thrown into the depths of the sea to be devoured by fish. After this, the flight of pious people began again, and again the fields sheltered the servants of Christ, and again deserts, forests and mountains" (Eusebius Pamphilus “Ecclesiastical History”).

Knowing the enormous authority that Saint Theodore enjoyed among the inhabitants of his city, the emperor sent his ambassadors to him, inviting him to his place. Licinius hoped to persuade St. Theodore to sacrifice to idols and thereby set an example for his subordinates. But Theodore dismissed the imperial ambassadors with honors and invited Licinius himself. When he arrived in Heraclea, St. Theodore feignedly agreed to fulfill the imperial command and asked to bring the golden imperial idols to his home, promising that at home he would honor them and appease them, and then bow to them in front of all the people. Licinius agreed. However, at night St. Theodore broke the fools into pieces and distributed the gold to the poor. Centurion Maxell reported to the emperor that he saw the head of Aphrodite in the hands of beggars and they mocked the “goddess.”

The angry Licinius called Theodore to him. Having come to the tyrant, the saint confessed to what he had done and openly confessed the faith of Christ. For this, Theodore was subjected to the most severe and sophisticated torture. The torturers beat him with ox sinews and tin rods, tormented his body with nails and burned him with fire. The holy martyr endured all this with great patience and only repeated: “Glory to Thee, our God!” The notary (cursive writer) of St. Theodore Avgar (according to other sources his name was Uar) barely found the strength to describe the torment of his master. After this, the saint was thrown into prison and kept there for five days without food or water, and then the tortured saint was nailed to a cross and his eyes were gouged out. Exhausted in both spirit and body, the sufferer exclaimed: “Lord, Lord, You prophesied to me that You are with me, why have you left me now? Now it's time for help! Help me, since I endure all this suffering for Your sake and out of love for You I endure such torment. Strengthen me, Lord, or take my soul, for I can no longer endure.” Having said this, the martyr fell silent. The torturer Licinius concluded from this silence that the saint had died and, having given the order to leave the body on the cross until the morning, left the place of execution. At midnight an Angel appeared, took the saint’s body from the cross, kissed it and said:

“Rejoice, Theodore, warrior of Christ! Be bold and strengthen yourself in the name of Christ, the True God, He is with you. And why did you say that He left you? Finish your feat and come to the Lord to take the crown prepared for you.”

Having said this, the Angel became invisible, and the saint began to praise and thank God. The soldiers of Licinius, sent by the king to retrieve the body of the martyr, found him alive and completely healthy, sitting at the cross and praising God. Seeing this miracle, many soldiers believed in Christ and immediately received baptism, many of them subsequently suffered for Jesus. An uprising against Licinius began in the city - residents demanded the release of St. Theodore. But the great martyr, not wanting to avoid martyrdom, again voluntarily surrendered himself into the hands of the tormentors. He restrained the rebels with the words: “Stop, beloved! My Lord Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross, restrained the Angels so that they would not take revenge on the family.” Having asked Avgar to describe his last minutes of life, the saint went to execution, and before that, with one word of prayer, he opened the doors of the prison, freeing the prisoners from their bonds. At this time, the sick were healed, and demons were cast out from people. Whoever Theodore touched with his holy hand, or whoever even touched his clothes, immediately received healing.
St. Theodore was beheaded with a sword on February 8, 319, on Saturday, at three o'clock in the afternoon.

Soon after the martyrdom of St. Theodore, the wicked Licinius paid for his atrocities against the servants of Christ. He suffered a crushing defeat from the troops of Constantine the Great, was captured, was exiled to prison in Thessalonica, and was executed in 324.

The people showed great honor to the holy remains of the martyr. On June 8 (21 New Style) June 319, they were solemnly transferred to the saint’s homeland in Euchaites. During the transfer of Theodore's body and already in the city itself, numerous miracles were performed for the glory of Christ. The relics of St. Theodore (probably in the 10th - 11th centuries) were transferred to Constantinople.

During his pilgrimage to the capital of the Byzantine Empire, the Russian pilgrim Anthony of Novgorod saw the relics of St. Theodore in Blachernae: “And at Lacherna, in the church vestments, Saint Theodore Stratilates lies, and his shield and sword are right there.” Nowadays, particles of the saint’s relics are found in various churches in the East and West. Some of the relics (probably after the capture of Constantinople by the crusaders in 1204) ended up in Venice.

Relics of St. Theodore Stratilates in the Church of Christ the Savior in Venice .

The honorable head of the great martyr is located on Mount Athos in the Pantokrator monastery. The left hand of St. Theodore is located in the Greek monastery of Mega Spileon in the Peloponnese.
Reliquaries with particles of the relics of St. Theodore Stratilates were distributed in Holy Rus'. One of them was kept in the sacristy of St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, and in Moscow, particles of the relics were in the Image Chamber and the sacristy of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin.

The right hand of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Tiron and the left hand of the Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates. Monastery Mega Spileon. Peloponnese.

Presumably in 1586, part of the head of the great martyr was brought to Moscow from Athos. For this shrine, in 1598, probably by order of Tsar Boris Feodorovich Godunov, an ark was made. On the lid of the silver ark there is an image of the saint in the type of a martyr - in military armor, with a cross and a sword in his hands. In 1587, another piece of the relics of Theodore Stratelates was delivered to Moscow from Athos, from the Zograf monastery.

After his death, St. Theodore Stratilates was glorified by numerous miracles - through prayers to him, from icons with his image. Saint Anastasius of Sinai, Patriarch of Antioch (599) and Saint John of Damascus (about 780) mention a miracle that occurred in the temple of Theodore Stratilates near Damascus in the town of Karsata in Syria. When these places were captured by the Saracens, the temple was destroyed and subsequently subjected to desecration. The Saracens settled in the building. One day one of them, taking a bow, shot an arrow at the image of St. Theodore painted on the wall. The arrow hit the saint’s right shoulder, and immediately a trickle of living blood flowed down the wall. The wicked were surprised at this, but did not leave the temple. In total, about twenty families lived in the church. After some time, they all died of unknown causes. Pestilence attacked the sacrilege, while their fellow tribesmen who lived outside the temple were not harmed.
However, for some reason, the cult of St. Theodore did not become widespread in the Roman (Byzantine) Empire in the first five centuries after his martyrdom. The name of the Holy Great Martyr began to appear frequently in the works of Byzantine hagiographers (for example, Niketas the Paphlagonian mentioned above) starting from the 9th century. At the same time, the formation of the cult of St. Theodore took place, which absorbed many features of the cult of St. Theodore Tyrone, the alleged uncle of St. Theodore Stratilates.

The widespread glorification of St. Theodore begins in the second half of the 10th century, after one of the greatest miracles performed by the Lord through the prayers of the great martyr. According to information from the “History” of the Byzantine chronicler John Skylitzes and the “History” written by Leo Deacon Kaloisky, the miraculous intercession of St. Theodore Stratelates helped the Orthodox Emperor John Tzimiskes (reigned 969 - 976) in the battle with the pagan Russians under the leadership of the Kyiv prince Svyatoslav in the battle near the city of Dorostol on July 21, 971. This is how Leo the Deacon describes the miracle:

« So, the Rosses...with a loud and wild cry rushed at the Romans, who, frightened by their extraordinary desire, began to retreat. The Emperor, seeing the retreat of the army, fearing that, out of fear of an extreme attack by enemies, it would not be exposed to extreme danger, with a spear in his hand, he bravely went towards them with his detachment. Trumpets thundered and tambourines sounded for battle. The Romans, following the Emperor's wishes, turned their horses and quickly set off against the enemies. A storm with rain that suddenly arose and poured through the air upset the Rosses: for the rising dust harmed their eyes. Then, they say, a certain warrior on a white horse appeared before the Romans and encouraged them to go against their enemies: he miraculously cut and disrupted their ranks. No one saw him in the camp either before or after the battle. The Emperor, wanting to reward him worthily and express due gratitude for his exploits, looked for him everywhere, but could not find him anywhere. After that, the general opinion spread that he was the great martyr Theodore, whom the Emperor prayed to be his assistant in battles, to protect and preserve himself along with the army. They also say that in accordance with this miracle, the following happened in Byzantium, on the evening before the battle: one girl, who dedicated herself to God, saw in a dream the Mother of God saying to the fiery warriors accompanying her: “Call the martyr Theodore to me” - and they immediately brought the brave armed youth. Then she told him: “Theodore! Your John, fighting with the Scythians, in extreme circumstances; hurry to his aid. If you are late, he will be in danger.” To this he answered: “I am ready to obey the Mother of the Lord my God,” and immediately left. With this, sleep also departed from the maiden’s leaders. Thus her dream came true. The Romans followed this Divine leader and entered into battle with the enemies. As soon as a strong battle began, the Scythians, surrounded by Master Skler, unable to withstand the rush of the cavalry phalanx, fled, and, pursued to the very wall, ignominiously fell dead on the spot».

The Byzantine author John Skylitzes erroneously reports that the day of the battle, July 21, was the day of remembrance of St. Theodore Stratelates. In fact, on this day, according to the Synaxarion, the memory of the martyrs Theodore and George, who are known only by name, was celebrated. Apparently, only after the victory over Svyatoslav these martyrs were turned into holy warriors, to whom special prayers were subsequently dedicated on this day. In gratitude for the help rendered to him by the Holy Great Martyr, the pious Emperor John Tzimiskes rebuilt a temple in the name of St. Theodore Stratelates in Euchania (not far from Eukhait), to which he transferred his relics, and Euchania, as the Byzantine historian John Skylitza tells, renamed Theodoropolis (in translated from Greek - the city of Theodora). Although archaeological finds of Byzantine seals in Bulgaria in the 20th century indicate that it was there that the city was located, renamed in honor of the Holy Great Martyr Theodoropol. In some sources, probably in connection with Theodore Tiron, the location of this temple is called Euchaites. It should be noted that in Byzantium St. Theodore was revered precisely as a defender against Russian invasions.

Over time, the veneration of St. Theodore Stratelates began to be united with the veneration of his older contemporary St. Theodore Tyrone. The Synaxari of the 10th - 11th centuries prescribed services in honor of the great martyr in some churches of Constantinople dedicated to Theodore Tyrone, primarily in the temple erected by the patrician Sphorakios in 452. In 1265, a church dedicated to Theodore Stratelates and Theodore Tiron was built in the city of Serra. The second such temple was erected in Constantinople, in the monastery of Kyprianou. According to the vision of Emperor Theodore II Laskaris (reigned 1255 - 1259), heading from the city of Sera, both Saint Theodores helped him recapture the city of Melnik from the Bulgarians in 1255. The veneration of the two Theodores reached its greatest popularity in the 14th century, when the Byzantine writer Theodore Pediasmos compiled a set of miracles of Saint Theodores. In late Greek and Balkan iconography, there are known images of both saints sitting on horses and hugging each other as a sign of brotherly affection.

St. Theodore Stratelates was the heavenly patron of the famous Roman aristocratic family of Gavras, whose ancestor was St. Martyr Theodore Gavras, the famous military leader who conquered Trebizond from the Seljuk Turks. The Russian noble family of the Golovins comes from the Gavras.

The Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates was widely known and revered in Holy Rus'. His image personified military valor. The veneration of Theodore Stratilates in Rus' became more widespread than the veneration of Theodore Tyrone. His name was given to many Russian princes and kings, many of whom were glorified by the Church as saints: the holy noble-believing Grand Duke Yaroslav Vsevolodovich (father of St. Alexander Nevsky), the holy noble-believing prince of Smolensk and Yaroslavl Theodore Rostislavich Cherny, the holy noble-believing Tsar of Moscow and All Rus' Theodore Ioannovich, Tsar Feodor Borisovich Godunov, Tsar Feodor Alekseevich Romanov. The name St. Theodore was also popular among the common people - until 1917, it was rare to find a family in Rus' that did not have a man named Theodore.

In Holy Rus', churches dedicated to St. Theodore were often erected, of which the most famous is the Church of St. Theodore on the Stream in Veliky Novgorod (built around 1361). The Holy Right-Believing Tsar Ivan Vasilyevich the Terrible, in honor of the birth of his son Theodore, built a cathedral church in the Feodorovsky Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky. Temples in the name of St. Theodore Stratelates existed in many Russian cities: Moscow (architect I.V. Egotov, 1782 - 1806); Alexandrov (gate church of the 18th - 19th centuries in the Holy Assumption Monastery), etc.

The name of St. Theodore Stratilates is connected with the history of the great Orthodox shrine - the Theodore Icon of the Mother of God, a family heirloom of the House of Romanov.

”, published by the Sretensky Monastery publishing house. The Holy Great Martyr Theodore was from Euchait, a place near Amasia. His courage and oratorical talent earned him the respect of Emperor Licinius, who around 320 appointed him military commander and mayor of Iraklia. Having taken office, Theodore did not hide his commitment to Christianity and with fiery words converted most of the city to Orthodoxy. They say that he even confirmed the truth of his sermon by killing the serpent, which was instilling fear in the local residents.

In response to the challenge of the emperor, who learned about the unexpected behavior of his favorite, Theodore himself invited Licinius to Heraclius along with his gold and silver idols. Encouraged by a night vision that his time had come to testify with blood his love for Christ, he solemnly received the emperor. He, admiring the order that reigned in the city, invited the mayor to show his piety by making a sacrifice to the gods. Theodore agreed and only asked to give him the idols for the night in order to honor them before making public sacrifices.

He took the golden statues brought by the emperor, crushed them into pieces overnight and distributed the gold to the poor. When the hour of the ceremony arrived, the centurion reported to the sovereign that he had seen some poor man carrying the head of a golden statue of Artemis. The amazed emperor ordered the saint to be hoisted on the rack, given seven hundred blows on the back with ox sinews, fifty on the stomach, and beaten on the back of the head with lead balls. Then they began to tear off his skin, burn the wounds with torches and scrape them with shards. During torture, the saint exclaimed only: “Glory to Thee, my God!”

He was thrown into prison, left without food for seven days, after which he was crucified on a cross outside the city. The soldiers mercilessly pierced him through the genital organ to the very insides, and the children, using arrows, gouged out his eyes. Patient in suffering and generous towards the executioners, following the example of the Divine Teacher, Theodore was steadfast in prayer and encouraged his servant Huarus to write down all the details of the martyrdom.

When he was hanging on the cross at night, left alone, an Angel of God freed him and healed him of all his wounds, giving him the strength to go through this battle to the end. The next morning the soldiers came to remove the corpse. With surprise, finding Theodore completely healthy, they believed in Christ. They were followed by the entire cohort and the rest of the soldiers sent to punish the first.

Realizing that, looking at this miracle, the agitated city could rebel, Licinius sent new soldiers to immediately execute Theodore, the culprit of these riots. Some Christians decided to stand up for the saint, but the martyr, feeling that the hour had come to reunite with Christ, stopped them and calmly appeared before the executioners. Having overshadowed himself with the sign of the life-giving cross, he bowed his head and with a blow of the sword was awarded the crown of glory.

Following the instructions of St. Theodora, Christians carried the remains in a triumphal procession to his family home in Euchaites. It was here that many miracles took place over the centuries, and the city was subsequently renamed Theodoropol.

Compiled by Hieromonk Macarius of Simonopetra,
adapted Russian translation - Sretensky Monastery Publishing House

As presented by St. Demetrius of Rostov

The wicked king Licinius 1, having accepted the scepter after the wicked Maximian and imitating him in everything, immediately raised a great persecution against those who were distinguished by piety; He sent a decree about this wicked command to all cities and countries. At this time, many brave soldiers of Christ were killed: Licinius killed forty martyrs of Sebaste, 2 also seventy glorious warriors and princes of his chamber, and finally killed three hundred men from Macedonia.

When the wicked Licinius saw that almost all Christians, despising his command, were giving themselves up to death for the holy faith, then he ordered to look for only the most famous and noble of them, that is, only those who were in his army or lived in cities, and he commanded only them (without paying attention to the multitude of ordinary people) to force them to idolatry; he hoped through fear to convince all those under his authority to remain faithful to idolatry.

While everywhere they began to search with great diligence for the most famous Christians, Licinius, who was then in Nicomedia, learned that in Heraclea 3, near the Black Sea, there lived a certain holy man named Theodore Stratelates, that he was a Christian and was converting many to To Christ.

Saint Theodore was from Euchait 4, located near the city of Heracles; he was a brave and courageous man, and very handsome in appearance; In addition, he was distinguished by his wisdom and great eloquence, so that he was called “prioritor,” that is, the most skillful orator 5. By royal command, he was appointed stratilate, that is, commander, and the city of Heraclea was given under his control; with this he was rewarded for his bravery, which became known to everyone after he killed the serpent in Euchaites.

Not far from the city of Euchait, to the north of it, there was a deserted field, and in it a large abyss, inside of which lived a huge serpent. When he came out of this abyss, the earth in that place shook; Having come out, he devoured everything that came his way, both man and beast.

Hearing about this, the brave warrior of Christ, Saint Theodore, who was then still among the army, without telling anyone anything about his intention, went out alone against that fierce serpent.

He took with him only his usual weapons, but on his chest he had a valuable cross. He said to himself:

I will go and deliver my fatherland by the power of Christ from this fierce serpent.

When he came to that field, he saw tall grass, got off his horse and lay down to rest. In this country there lived a certain pious wife named Eusevia. She was an elderly woman; several years before this, she, having asked for the honest body of Saint Theodore Tiron 6, who suffered during the reign of Maximian and Maximin, buried him with spices in her house in Euchaites and celebrated his memory every year. This woman, seeing this second Theodore, the warrior of Christ, called stratilates, sleeping in this field, approached him with great fear, and, taking him by the hand, woke him up, saying:

Get up, brother, and quickly move away from this place: you don’t know that in this place many suffered a cruel death; So, get up quickly and go on your way.

The honorable martyr of Christ Theodore, standing up, said to her:

What kind of fear and horror are you talking about, mother?

The servant of God Eusevia answered him:

Child, a huge serpent has wound up in this place, and therefore no one can come here: every day this serpent, leaving his lair, finds someone - a person or an animal, and immediately kills him and devours him.

The courageous warrior of Christ Theodore said to this:

The woman, moving away from this place, threw herself to the ground, crying and saying:

God of Christians, help him at this hour!

Then the holy martyr Theodore, having made the sign of the cross, struck himself on the chest and, looking up to heaven, began to pray like this:

Lord Jesus Christ, who shone forth from the Father’s Being, who helped me in battles and gave me victory in opposing battles, You are the same now, Lord Christ God: therefore send me victory from Your holy height, that I may overcome this enemy—the serpent.

Then talking with his horse as if with a man, he said:

We know that God’s authority and power exist in everyone, both in people and in cattle, so help me, with the help of Christ, so that I can overcome the enemy.

The horse, having listened to the words of his master, stopped, waiting for the appearance of the serpent. Then the martyr of Christ, approaching the abyss, cried out loudly to the serpent:

I speak to you and command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who was crucified voluntarily for the human race, come out of your lair and crawl to me.

The serpent, hearing the voice of the saint, moved, and immediately the earth in that place shook. Saint Theodore, having marked himself with the sign of the cross, mounted a horse, with which, tormenting and trampling upon the emerging serpent, he mounted it with all four hooves.

Then the warrior of Christ Theodore struck the serpent with a sword and, killing him, said:

I thank You, Lord Jesus Christ, that You heard me at this hour and gave me victory over the serpent!

After this, he returned safely to his regiment, rejoicing and praising God. The citizens of Euchait and the surrounding residents, hearing about this, went out to that field and, seeing the serpent killed by Saint Theodore, were surprised and cried out:

Great is the God of Theodorov!

Then many of the people, and especially the soldiers, believed in Christ, and all of them, having been baptized, became one flock of Christ, glorifying the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

After this, Saint Theodore, living in Heraclea, preached Christ the true God, and many of the pagans turned to Christ. Every day citizens gathered for baptism, and almost all of Heraclea accepted the holy faith.

Hearing about all this, the wicked king Licinius was very upset and sent dignitaries with his bodyguards from Nicomedia, where he himself was then staying, to Heraclea, so that they, taking Theodore Stratilates, would bring him to him with honor.

When they came to Heraclea, Saint Theodore received them with honor: he treated them and gave them each a gift, as if they were servants of the king. Then they began to call the saint to Licinia:

Go, they said, to Nicomedia, to the king, who loves you so much; for he, having heard about your courage, about your beauty and wisdom, greatly desires to see you, intending to honor your valor with worthy honor and gifts.

Saint Theodore answered them:

May the will of the king and yours be done, just have fun and rejoice today, and tomorrow we will do what needs to be done.

Three days had already passed, and meanwhile, despite the convictions of those sent that Saint Theodore should go with them to the king, he remained in his city. Then, leaving some of the royal men sent with him, Saint Theodore sent the rest to the king with a letter in which he said that he could not leave his city at a time when there was such great confusion among the people: for “many,” he wrote, “ leaving their native gods, they worship Christ, and almost the entire city, turning away from the gods, glorifies Christ, and there is a danger that Heraclea will retreat from your kingdom"; “Therefore,” he continued, “work hard, king, and come here yourself, taking with you the statues of the more glorious gods - do this for two reasons: 1) to pacify the rebellious people and 2) to restore ancient piety; for when you yourself If you make sacrifices with us in front of all the people, then the people, seeing us worshiping the great gods, will begin to imitate us and will be confirmed in their native faith.”

Saint Theodore wrote such a message to King Licinius, inciting him to come to Heraclea: the saint wanted to suffer in his city in order to sanctify it with his blood shed for Christ and with his suffering and courageous feat to confirm others in the holy faith.

King Licinius accepted this letter from Stratilates and, after reading it, was delighted.

Without hesitation, he, taking with him about eight thousand soldiers and the most noble of the Nicomedia citizens, joyfully set off with his princes and dignitaries to Heraclea; He took with him the idols of the gods more revered by the people, both gold and silver.

That same night, when Saint Theodore, according to custom, was praying, he had the following vision: it seemed to him that he was in a temple, the roof of which had opened up, and from there a heavenly light was shining, as if from some great luminary, and illuminated the head his; and then a voice was heard:

Be brave, Theodore, I am with you!

After this the vision stopped.

Then Saint Theodore realized that the time had come for him to suffer for Christ and rejoiced, fiery in spirit. Hearing that the king was approaching the city, he entered his prayer room and prayed like this with tears:

Lord, Almighty God, who does not abandon all those who trust in Your mercy, but protects them, be merciful to me, and protect me by Your intercession from the deception of the enemy - may I not fall before my enemies and may my enemy not rejoice over me; appear to me, my Savior, during the feat ahead of me, which I so desire to bear for Your holy name; Strengthen and establish me and give me the strength to courageously, even to the point of bleeding, to stand up for You and lay down my soul for the sake of love for You, just as You, having loved us, laid down Your soul on the cross for us.

Thus, having prayed with tears, Saint Theodore washed his face. Then, dressed in light clothes, he mounted his horse, on which he had once killed the serpent in the Euchaites, and together with his army and citizens went out to meet the king; As befits him, he bowed to him and, greeting him with respect, said:

Rejoice, most divine king, most powerful autocrat!

The king also met Saint Theodore very kindly; he kissed him and said:

Rejoice, you too, most beautiful youth, brave warrior, glorious commander, and like the bright sun, the wisest guardian of the laws of the fathers, and worthy of the diadem! It is fitting for you to be king after me.

Conversing so kindly and cheerfully, they entered the city to the sound of tympanums and trumpets, and both joyfully lay down to rest that day.

In the morning, when the royal throne was prepared on a high platform in the square in the middle of the city, King Licinius came with all his retinue and Theodore Stratilates and, having sat on the throne, began to praise the city, its citizens and Saint Stratelates, saying:

Truly, this place is worthy to be called the throne of God: it should be considered another heaven for people; this city is great, and there are many inhabitants in it, and moreover, they are all pious and devoted to their gods. Truly, in no other place are our great gods so revered as here; and there is no more decent and convenient place to serve the great gods than this; that is why Hercules, this wonderful and most courageous god of ours, the son of the great god Dius and the goddess Alcmene 7, loved this place and in his name called it the city of Heraclea; and truly, Theodore, it is worthy to become your possession: it is fitting for you to possess this wonderful city, and only you are worthy to rule such a people. After all, you honor our gods, and all your love is directed towards them; day and night you do nothing else but worry about pleasing the ancient Hellenic gods. Therefore, now show your love for them and make a sacrifice to them with worship, so that all the people see your zeal for the gods and know that you are a sincere friend of the great gods and are pleasing to the king.

Thus spoke Licinius, seducing and caressing the saint. Saint Theodore answered the king this way:

May the king live long. May your will be done, just give me at home today the images of the great Hellenic gods that you took with you, both gold and silver, so that on this night and the next after it, first of all, I will honor them at my place, both with sacrifices and incense, and aromas; and then, if you command, I will offer sacrifices to them openly in front of all the people.

The king, hearing this, was very happy. He immediately ordered to bring gold and silver idols. Saint Theodore, taking them with him, went home and there, at night, crushing them and breaking them into small parts, he distributed these parts to the poor.

Two days later, the king sent to the saint, commanding that he fulfill his promise and that same day, in front of all the people, offer sacrifices to the gods. Theodore, promising to fulfill all this, went with haste to the king, and the king, together with him, went to the square, which was located in the middle of the city, and there, sitting on his throne, he said to Saint Theodore:

The wisest Theodore, a wonderful commander, venerable by the kings who came before us! The day of sacrifice and celebration has come. So publicly offer sacrifices to the gods, so that all the inhabitants see your reverence for them and through this they would become even more diligent and zealous in their sacrifices.

While the king was saying this, one of the centurions standing here, named Maxentius, said to him:

I swear by the great gods, king, you have now been deceived by this wicked Theodore. For yesterday I saw the golden head of the goddess Artemis 8 in the hands of a beggar who was walking and rejoicing. I asked: where did you find it? And he told me that Theodore Stratilates gave it to him.

Hearing this, King Licinius shuddered and, perplexed, remained silent for a long time.

Then Saint Theodore said to him:

This is what the power of Christ is for me: everything that Maxentius the centurion told you, king, is all true, and I did well by smashing your idols. For if they could not help themselves, being crushed, then how can they give help to you?

Licinius, having listened to such an answer from Saint Theodore, remained silent for some time, as if a man was dumb and had lost his mind. Sitting in great sadness and leaning his head on his right hand, mourning and lamenting, he finally said:

Alas for me, alas for me! How insulted I am! And what I will say now, what I will do, I don’t know. Being the most powerful king, and having gathered such a large number of warriors, I came to this unfortunate man, and now I am ridiculed by all my enemies, especially because this accursed one crushed my victorious gods and distributed them to the poor.

Then, turning to the saint, he said:

Theodore, is this your reward to the gods for the gifts you received from them? Is this what I expected when I showered you with such great honors? And was it for this reason that I left Nicomedia and came to you today? O evil and vicious man! Truly, you are the son of deceit and the vile dwelling of wickedness, who by flattery forced me to come here. But, I swear to you by the power of my great gods, I will not tolerate this, and your cunning will not end well for you.

The saint answered Licinius:

Mad king, why are you so angry? Look for yourself and understand the power of your gods? If they were truly gods, then why didn’t they help themselves? Why weren’t they angry with me when I defeated them, and didn’t send fire from heaven to burn me? But they are soulless and powerless things that can be cut as easily by the hand of man as gold and silver. You, king, are angry and indignant, but your madness is funny to me. You are angry and furious, but I take courage and do not pay attention to your rage. You are sad, but I rejoice at the death of your gods. You persist in the Lord, and I bless Him. You blaspheme the true God, but I praise Him in songs. You worship dead gods, but I worship the Living God. You serve the vile Serapis, 9 and I serve the most pure and most honest Lord, Christ, who sits on the purest Seraphim. You honor the vile Apollo 10, but I honor God who lives forever. You are a Thracian coal 11, but I am a Roman prince; - you are Licinius - a fan, I am Theodore - a gift of God 12. So, king, do not be angry and do not be furious; By doing this, you only show your inner torment and become like a donkey or some kind of mule.

Then the Licinian king, becoming even more angry, ordered the naked saint to be spread out in the shape of a cross and beaten hard with raw ox sinews.

And the soldiers beat the holy martyr without mercy, changing among themselves, so that they beat him sometimes in threes, sometimes in fours, and at that time Saint Theodore was given six hundred blows on the back and five hundred on the belly.

King Licinius mocked him, saying:

Theodore, be patient a little until Christ your God comes to you, who will free you from the hands of the tormentor.

The saint answered:

Do with me what you want, and do not stop: for neither sorrow, nor oppression, nor wounds, nor sword, nor any other torment will separate me from the love of Christ.

Then the king, inflamed with even greater rage, said:

Do you still confess Christ?

And he ordered again to beat the holy martyr on the back without mercy with tin rods, and then to whittle his body with iron claws and scorch him with burning candles, and to rub his wounds with sharp shards.

The saint, enduring all this courageously, did not say anything else except: “Glory to Thee, my God!” After all these torments, the king ordered Saint Theodore to be imprisoned, his legs tied with fetters and no food given to him for five days. After five days, he ordered to prepare a cross and crucify the saint on it.

And so, just as Christ our Lord had once been crucified by Pilate, so now Saint Theodore was crucified by Licinius on the cross, and his hands and feet were nailed. But the cruel tormentors tried to further increase the suffering and torment of the saint. They drove a sharp and long nail into him and cut his body with razors; the youths and youths strained their bows and shot at his face, so that the apples of his eyes were pierced by arrows.

“I,” says the describer of his suffering, “notary 13 Uar,” seeing all these terrible torments and as if hearing his inner suffering groans, threw the book in which I wrote it all down, and, throwing myself down weeping at his feet, said:

Bless me, my lord, bless me! tell me, your servant, the last word!

My master, the warrior of Christ Theodore, said to me in a quiet voice:

Uar, do not abandon your service and do not stop looking at my suffering; describe them, describe my death and mark its day.

Then, calling on the Lord, the saint said:

Lord, You told me before: I am with you. Why have you left me now? Look, Lord, how wild animals tormented me all because of You: the apples of my eyes are pierced, my body is crushed from wounds, my face is wounded, my teeth are crushed; only naked bones hang on the cross; remember me, Lord, who endured the cross for Your sake: because of You I endured iron, and fire, and nails; now receive my spirit, for I am already departing from this life.

Indeed, Theodore’s entire body was tormented.

Licinius, thinking that the martyr had died, left him hanging on the cross. But then, on the first watch of the night, the Angel of the Lord took the holy martyr down from the cross and created him whole and healthy, as he had been before; welcoming him, the Angel said to him:

Rejoice and be strengthened by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, behold, the Lord is with you; why did you say that He left you? So, complete your feat to the end, and you will come to the Lord to receive the crown of immortality prepared for you.

Having said this to the holy martyr, the Angel became invisible. After this, the holy martyr Theodore, thanking God, began to chant like this: “I will exalt You, O my God, my King, and bless Your name forever and ever.”(Ps. 144:1).

And the wicked Licinius, even before dawn, sent two of his centurions, Antiochus and Patricius, ordering them:

Go and bring me the body of Theodore, who died in suffering: I will put it in a tin box and throw it into the depths of the sea, so that the crazy Christians will not somehow take it.

When they went and approached the place where Theodore was crucified, they saw a cross, but the martyr crucified on it was not there. And Antiochus said to Patricius:

The Galileans 14 say the truth that their Christ rose from the dead. He, I think, also resurrected His servant Theodore.

At this time, Patrick, coming closer to the cross, saw Saint Theodore sitting on the ground and praising the Lord. Then Patrik exclaimed loudly:

Great is the God of Christians, and there is no other god besides Him?

After this, both centurions, approaching the saint, said:

We beg you, martyr of Christ, accept us, for from this hour we are Christians.

And both these centurions and the seventy soldiers with them believed in Christ that day.

Licinius, having learned about this, sent his governor Sixtus and with him three hundred soldiers to kill all those who believed in Christ.

When these soldiers came and saw what miracles Saint Theodore performed by the power of Christ, they immediately believed in our Lord Jesus Christ. And countless people flocked to this place and everyone cried out:

There is one God, the God of Christians, and there is no other god but Him!

And further:

Who is the torturer Licinius? Let's stone him! for us there is one God and king - Christ, preached by Theodore!

And there was an uproar and rebellion among the people, and even bloodshed began.

A certain warrior named Leander, with a drawn sword, ran to this place and rushed at Theodore, wanting to hit him with the sword. Sixtus, the royal governor, restrained him, snatched the sword from his hands and cut it. And another warrior, named Mirpos, a native of Ugrin 15, rushed at the governor of the royal Sixtus and killed him.

Saint Theodore, wanting to calm the popular rebellion, said loudly:

Stop it, beloved! My Lord Jesus Christ, hanging on the cross, restrained the Angels so that they would not take vengeance on the human race.

After the martyr Theodore spoke like this with the people, begging and exhorting the people, the noise and popular confusion ceased.

At this time, the holy martyr walked past the prison, and all the people and soldiers followed him; The prisoners sitting in the dungeons cried out loudly to the saint:

Have mercy on us, servant of the Most High God!

The saint freed them from their bonds with his word, opened the prison doors and said to them:

Go in peace, men, and remember me.

And the whole city gathered, and everyone rejected idolatry and glorified Christ, the One God.

At this time, the sick were healed, and demons were cast out from people. Whoever the saint touched with his hand, or whoever even touched his clothes, immediately received healing.

Then one of Licinius’s associates, seeing what was happening, went to him and said:

The whole city, leaving the gods, according to the teachings and sorcery of Theodore, believed in Christ.

The king, filled with rage, immediately sent a warrior to behead Saint Theodore. The people, seeing this warrior, again raised a noise and revolt: having rebelled against Licinius, they wanted to kill his servant. Then the saint began to exhort the people to abandon this intention. He said:

Brothers and fathers! Do not rebel against Licinius: after all, he is the servant of his father the devil, and now it is fitting for me to go to my Lord Jesus Christ.

Having said this, he began to pray to God and after quite a long prayer, he blessed the people.

Then, marking himself with the sign of the cross, he said to his servant Uar:

My child, Uar, take care to describe the day of my death, and bury my body in Euchaites, on the estate of my parents; when you too are approaching death, bequeath to bury yourself on my left side.

Then the martyr of Christ prayed again and, finally, uttering the word “Amen,” bowed his honorable and holy head to the sword and was beheaded.

This happened on the 8th day of the month of February, on Saturday, at the third hour of the day 16.

After the beheading, all the people showed great honor to the martyr: taking candles and censers, the Christians laid his body in a special place, and then on the eighth of June it was transferred with great triumph to Euchaites, and countless miracles were performed there, to the glory of Christ God - to Him Father and Holy Spirit, honor and worship forever. Amen.

Troparion, tone 4:

With true passion-bearing warfare, you were the good commander of the heavenly King, Theodora: for you fought wisely with the weapons of faith, and you defeated the demons of the regiment, and you appeared victorious as a sufferer. In the same way, we will always please you with faith.

Kontakion, voice 2:

With the courage of your soul you embraced the faith, and took the word of God like a spear in your hand, you defeated the enemy, greater than the martyrs Theodore. Don’t stop praying to Christ God with them for all of us.

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1 Licinius - Roman emperor in the eastern half of the empire, reigned from 307-324.

3 Heraclea is a city in Pontus, northern Asia Minor.

4 Euchaites is a city in the north of Asia Minor, not far from Heraclea, now Marsivan.

5 From the Greek word “rhetor” - speaker, vitiia and “vri” - an indivisible syllable that enhances the meaning of the word connected with it.

7 Hercules or Hercules is a hero of ancient Greek legends, personifying the physical strength of man and subsequently revered by the ancient Greeks as one of their favorite gods. Dius or Zeus was revered by the ancient Greeks as the father of gods and people, ruling heaven and earth, sending thunder and lightning to the earth. Alcmene, according to Greek myths, is a mortal woman who conceived and gave birth to Hercules from Zeus.

8 Artemis or Diana, according to the beliefs of the ancient Greeks, was the goddess of the moon and hunting.

9 Serapis is the Egyptian god of the souls of the dead, who was invoked as a savior from illness and death. Subsequently, his veneration also spread to Greece and Rome, where it became very widespread.

10 Apollo is the Greco-Roman god of the sun and mental enlightenment.

11 The nickname of Licinius, hinting at his low origins from Thrace.

12 Licinius translated from Latin means winnower; Theodore - from Greek God's gift.

13 Notary - cursive writer. At first according to R. Chr. This is what the imperial secretaries who sealed the acts were usually called.

14 This is how the pagans called Christians with contempt, considering Christ to have come from Galilee, a country that had a bad reputation even among the Jews.

15 Ugrins are the name given to the Slavs who originate from the Ugric land or Chervonnaya Rus, now western Ukraine.

16 Saint Theodore was beheaded by the sword in 319.

Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates: Life

Saint Theodore came from the city of Euchait (in Asia Minor, present-day Turkey) and was a governor (in Greek - “stratilate”) in the city of Heraclea near the Black Sea.

Many pagans, seeing his virtuous life and meekness, accepted the faith of Christ.

Emperor Licinius, co-ruler of Constantine, having learned about this, arrived in Heraclea and forced Theodore to worship idols. When Saint Theodore remained unshaken, the angry ruler ordered that the confessor of Christ be subjected to cruel torture.

Theodore was crucified on the cross, and at night an angel appeared to the martyr, took him down from the cross and completely healed him. The next morning, the servants of Licinius, sent to throw the body of Saint Theodore into the sea, seeing him completely healthy, believed in Christ. Many other pagans who saw the miracle of God also believed.

Having learned about this, Licinius ordered Saint Theodore to be beheaded, and he died in 319. His suffering was described by an eyewitness, his servant and scribe Uar.

Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates: prayer

Prayer
Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates
Lord God Almighty, do not abandon all those who trust in Your mercy, but protect them! Be merciful to me and protect me from the charms of the enemy by Your protection, so that I will not fall before my opponents and may my enemy not rejoice over me. Present yourself to me, my Savior, in this struggle for Your holy name. Strengthen me, confirm me, and give me the strength to stand courageously for You to the blood of my soul and lay down my soul out of love for You, just as You, having loved us, laid down Your soul on the Cross for us. Amen.

Tiny Venice attracts millions of tourists every year. Almost all of them come here to enjoy the fabulous landscapes, see the eclectic facades of ancient palaces, fancifully reflected in the mirror surface of shallow canals, and admire the gondolas deftly controlled by hereditary gondoliers. Travelers are eager to plunge into the unique atmosphere of the city, frozen and seemingly out of time. But only a few tourists know that the city on the water contains treasures that give us a sense of belonging to eternity. But Venice is a real treasury of Christian shrines. In terms of their total number, it is second only to the eternal city - Rome.

The richest Venetian collection of unique relics was formed over centuries. Individual shrines were brought to the islands by the first settlers who fled here in the 5th-6th centuries from the cities of coastal Italy from the invasion of barbarians. Others were given to the islanders by the Byzantine emperors as a token of gratitude for their assistance in military campaigns and campaigns. Over time, Byzantium weakened, and many Christian shrines were simply stolen by the Venetians; The apogee was 1204 - then the Most Serene Republic, which actually stood at the head of the Fourth Crusade, organized the siege and plunder of Constantinople, its former overlord. In subsequent years, an incredible number of relics and relics of saints were taken to the islands as trophies. In the 16th century, the relics of the first Christian martyrs were brought to Venice from Rome. Later, when the Ottoman Empire finally destroyed Byzantium and began to dominate the Mediterranean, also displacing the Venetians from their former colonies, the collection grew even larger.

In 1797, Venice had to experience the fate of the vanquished - the Most Serene Republic of St. Mark shamefully capitulated to Napoleon and forever lost its independence. The inglorious capitulation was followed by a terrible looting of the shrines kept in the city, and some of them, unfortunately, were lost without a trace. Be that as it may, priceless treasures of the faith are still kept in the churches on the islands of the lagoon, and Orthodox Christians can worship them without hindrance.

On June 21, the Orthodox Church celebrates the transfer of the relics of the Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates, the patron saint of the Christian army - his relics are carefully preserved in the Venetian Cathedral of Christ the Savior. Saint Theodore was from Pontic Euchaitis, now it is Turkish territory and on the site of the ancient city there is a small village. Translated from Greek, “stratilates” means “military leader, commander”; in the Russian tradition, this term is often translated as "voevoda". Before being appointed stratelate to the city of Heraclea, not far from the shores of the Black Sea, the warrior Theodore became famous for his fearlessness and courage - he killed a terrible serpent that lived in the vicinity of his native Euchaitis and kept the entire area in fear. Armed with a sword and turning to the Lord for help, Saint Theodore destroyed the man-eating dragon. It was then that the warrior, who showed amazing courage, was appointed stratilate. His contemporary and servant Saint Uar testifies that Theodore Stratilates, endowed with many talents, distinguished by piety and mercy, was extremely active and carried the Gospel word to the pagans. Under the influence of his preaching, many residents of the city converted to Christianity, which aroused the furious indignation of the pagan emperor Licinius (reigned from 308 to 324).

Saint Theodore, trying to show the insignificance of paganism before the true God, invited the emperor to Heraclea, promising to personally sacrifice to idols. To perform the pagan ritual, the stratilate ordered to collect in his house all the gold and silver statues in the city, as well as idols brought at his request by the emperor himself. However, instead of worshiping them, Saint Theodore broke the idols into pieces and distributed the precious metal to the poor, establishing the laws of Christian charity on the ruins of paganism. Such an act could not go unpunished: Theodore was subjected to many days of sophisticated torture - tormented with iron claws, burned with fire, starved, his eyes gouged out and only then crucified on the cross. However, the Lord destined for the stratilate a different fate and death in glory - He healed the wounds and brought the martyr down from the cross, on which Theodore hung the whole night. The pagans who witnessed the miracle immediately believed in the almighty Christian God and were baptized. Saint Theodore went through a martyr's path for the Savior to the very end: he stopped the people who rebelled against his tormentors, and voluntarily surrendered himself into the hands of the imperial soldiers. On February 21, 319, the Great Martyr Theodore was beheaded, and on June 21 of the same year his body was transferred to Euchait.

After the Arab retreat from Constantinople in 718, Emperor Leo III presented the relics of Theodore Stratilates to the Bulgarian Khan and Caesar Tervel as a sign of sincere gratitude to the Bulgarians who saved the besieged capital of Byzantium. For several centuries, the relics of the great martyr were venerated in the Bulgarian Church of Hagia Sophia in the city of Mesemvria (since 1934 - Nessebar).

However, in 1257, a detachment of Venetians under the command of fleet captain Giacomo Dandolo, who came from a noble patrician family, attacked Mesemvria and, among other trophies, captured the relics of the Great Martyr Theodore. After this, the shrine remained in the St. Nicholas Church in Constantinople, which was under the heel of the Latins, and in 1267 the patrician Marco Dauro brought it to Venice.

The relics were placed in one of the oldest churches in the city, located in the very heart of Venice, next to the Rialto Bridge. According to legend, the first temple was built here in the 7th century, when the islands of the lagoon were completely deserted, by Saint Magnus - the Savior appeared to him in a dream and indicated the exact place to build a church in His honor. Subsequently, the temple was rebuilt several times: in 1167, after the first reconstruction, it was consecrated by Pope Alexander III; then, in the 16th century, Giorgio Spavento, Tullio and Pietro Lombardo, and Jacopo Sansovino worked successively on a new three-nave church, built in the shape of a Latin cross; Giuseppe Sardi completed work on the façade of the temple only in 1663. But the bell tower, which began to be erected back in the 14th century, was completed only at the end of the 19th century.

Today, the relics of St. Theodore Stratilates are kept in a reliquary with a glass door in the chapel located to the right of the main altar. The head of the Great Martyr Theodore is covered with a mask and crowned with a crown; only his hand and feet are not covered with vestments.

A pilgrim not versed in the intricacies of Venetian history can be misled by the inscriptions: the first - Theodori Amaseni - placed on the apse, reports that the relics of St. Theodore of Amaseni, in the Orthodox tradition of Tiron, rest here; the inscription on the door of the reliquary itself - Theodori Eracleensi - states that here are the relics of St. Theodore of Hercules, that is, Stratilates. The fact is that the relics of Theodore Tiron were kept in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior for a long time. They were moved to the chapel in 976, after the Cathedral of San Marco, in which they were staying, burned down during a severe fire that destroyed many Venetian buildings. In 1096, the shrine was placed in another, unknown place. Most likely, it will remain a mystery what actually happened to the relics of the first heavenly patron of the Republic and where they disappeared...

Saint Theodore Tyrone was a simple warrior and lived in the Pontic city of Amasia during the time of the persecutor of Christians, the emperor, and then the usurper Maximian Herculius (285-308). Translated from the Latin "tiro", "tironis" means "recruit". It seems likely, therefore, that Theodore was a young man when he suffered for Christ. He was forced to renounce the Christian faith and make sacrifices to idols; he fearlessly and firmly refused to perform the sacrifice and was subjected to torture. In prison, the Savior Himself appeared to the confessor and strengthened his spirit and faith. Theodore, who was also accused of setting fire to a pagan temple, was again tortured by hanging him from a tree and piercing his body with iron teeth, and then sentenced to burning. On March 2, 306, the great martyr ascended the fire and with prayer surrendered his soul to God. A pious woman named Eusevia, having asked permission to take the saint’s body, buried the remains, undamaged by fire, in her house in the city of Euchaite, not far from Amasia. Subsequently, the relics of Theodore Tyrone were transferred to the Constantinople temple, consecrated in his honor.

The appearance of a particle of the saint’s relics on the islands in the Venetian lagoon was associated, according to legend, with the name of the outstanding Byzantine commander and exarch of Italy Narses (478-573). In the 40s of the 6th century, he ordered the construction of two churches on Rialto, one of which was consecrated in honor of St. Theodore of Amasia. Narses decided in this way to thank the islanders, who were vassals of Byzantium at that time, for their active assistance during the blockade of Ravenna. So the holy warrior Theodore Tiron became the first patron of Venice. The original Church of Theodore Tiron was radically remodeled during the subsequent reconstructions of the Cathedral of San Marco and became the Chapel of St. Theodore in the Cathedral of San Marco (it is located next to the sacristy). In 1464, one of the most brilliant Venetian painters of the Quattrocento, Gentile Bellini, decorated the organ shutters in this chapel with images of the patron saints of Venice - Mark and Theodore Tiron.

The sad loss of the shrine that occurred in 1096 was in some way “compensated” two centuries later. As a result of the war with the Genoese, which was successful for the Venetians, which was fought on the territory of coastal Chioggia in 1379-1381, many relics were transported from Chioggia to Venice, among them was part of the relics (leg) of St. Theodore Tiron. It is now kept in the treasury of the Cathedral of San Marco in a gilded reliquary made of silver in the shape of a leg. Here, in a separate glass reliquary, there is another relic - the rib of St. Theodore Stratilates.

The Venetians continued to treat their first heavenly patron with reverence and reverence even after he was literally “eclipsed” by the new, second patron of the Republic, the holy apostle and evangelist Mark - his relics were delivered to the islands in 828. This respect and veneration is evidenced by the monumental columns installed next to the embankment at the “main front entrance” of Venice - the Piazzetta of San Marco. If from the top of the left column a bronze statue of the lion of St. Mark, which in ancient times shone with gold, looks impartially at everyone, then the right column is crowned by a sculpture of the Great Martyr Theodore Tiron. It is very unusual - this image is made according to the principle of a constructor from many parts of a wide variety of sculptures! The head of the Pontic king Mithridates is mounted on a Roman torso from the era of Emperor Hadrian; other elements were also created in different historical periods. For some reason, the dragon at the feet of the saint is called a “crocodile” in many guidebooks, although it has only two paws and is completely different from this representative of reptiles. The original of the unusual sculpture is now kept in the Doge's Palace. The columns themselves were brought from the East in the 12th century and installed on the embankment in 1172. The work on their installation was led by the talented engineer Nicolo Quarattieri (he built the very first Rialto Bridge, which connected the banks of the Grand Canal; by the way, the current Rialto Bridge is also decorated with high relief images of the Apostle Mark and the Great Martyr Theodore Tiron by the sculptor Titian Aspetti).

In both the Orthodox and Catholic traditions, the holy great martyrs Theodore Stratelates and Theodore Tyrone are often depicted together, equally dressed in military armor, with swords and spears, sometimes on horses, slaying dragons. Despite the fact that one of the saints is a military leader, and the second is a simple soldier, Christ-loving warriors turn to them both with prayers, with faith and hope for help and support.

Illustrations:
1. Saints Theodore Stratelates and Theodore Tiron. 1290-1310. Athos
2. Sculpture of Theodore Tiron, installed on the Column of San Teodoro in Venice. Photo by the author
3. Reliquary with the relics of Theodore of Heraclius (Stratilates) in the Temple of San Salvador
4. Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Venice (San Salvador). 1504–1534. Photo by the author

First publication: Monthly Orthodox publication “Calendar”, No. 6 (198) of 2015.