Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit

Short life

Theodore was a soldier in Amaseia of Pontus, in Asia Minor, serving under the commander Brincus. He was ordered to sacrifice to idols, but openly confessed faith in Christ the Savior. Given several days to reconsider, he spent them in prayer. Theodore was then accused of burning a pagan temple and destroying the image of Rhea. He was imprisoned and later brought before the governor Publius. Because he continued to confess Christ, he endured further torments and was sentenced to death by fire. His martyrdom took place about 306, during the reign of Emperor Galerius.

Life and context

The title “the Recruit” comes from the Latin tiro, meaning a newly enlisted soldier; it does not mean that Theodore came from Tyre. His Life relates that Christ appeared to strengthen him in prison. It also preserves the hagiographical tradition that the fire did not harm his body and that an eyewitness saw his soul ascending to heaven. Theodore’s body was buried at Euchaïta, near Amaseia. His relics were later transferred to Constantinople, to a church dedicated to him. Icons portray him in military dress, sometimes alone, sometimes fighting a serpent, and sometimes together with Great Martyr Theodore the Commander.

Why he is venerated

The saint is commemorated on 17 February in the Julian calendar, which is 2 March in the civil calendar from 1901 to 2099. He is also remembered on the first Saturday of Great Lent. Church tradition recounts that, under Emperor Julian the Apostate, Theodore appeared in a dream to Archbishop Eudoxios of Constantinople. He warned Christians not to buy food in the markets, which had been defiled with blood offered to idols, but to eat boiled wheat with honey, called kolyva. In remembrance, a canon to the saint is sung, and kolyva is blessed and shared with the faithful. The saint is also invoked in prayer concerning lost or stolen belongings.

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