Saint Theodore Martyr, November 9

For Saint Theodore Martyr, Matins lesson ix

St. Theodore of Tyrone

Of this Theodore (known as The Tyro, that is, the recruit) a panegyric is extant, attributed to Saint Gregory of Nyssa, in which the Saint is thus invoked : As a soldier, fight for us! As a Martyr, win us peace! He is reputed to have been a Christian soldier, who was arrested in the fourth century, during the reign of the Emperor Maximian, for having set on fire a temple of idols. And it is said that the commander of the Legion offered him pardon if he would but profess repentance for his act, and curse the Christian Faith, and that , as he steadfastly refused, he was cast into prison. And that there he was tormented with iron claws, and yet whilst they tore the flesh off his ribs, he sang joyfully the thirty-third psalm : I will bless the Lord at all times. And that thereafter he was thrown upon a pile of burning wood, whereupon still praising God and praying, he gave up his soul to Christ, about the year 306. And the Lady Eusebia is said to have wrapped his body in a winding-sheet and buried the same on her own farm.

Collect:

O God, who hast set about us the protection of the glorious confession of thy blessed Martyr Theodore, grant that we may ever profit by the following of his ensample, and be sustained by the succour of his intercession, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.