- Great-Martyr Theodore Stratelates ("the General") of Heraclea (319)
- He was a renowned commander in the Imperial army, and dwelt in Heraclea of Pontus. The
Emperor Licinius heard of Theodore's fame as an officer, and also that he was a devout
Christian; the Emperor determined to visit the general, officially to honor him, but
secretly to turn him from Christ.
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When the Emperor came to Heraclea, Saint Theodore met him with all honor,
and the Emperor in turn praised him for his service to the state. Licinius then publicly
bade Theodore make sacrifice to the gods. Theodore asked that he be given the most
venerable gods, made of gold and silver, to attend upon at home, and promised that the
following day he would return and honor them before the people. The Emperor,
thinking that he had succeeded in restoring Theodore to paganism, gladly agreed.
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That night the Saint smashed all the idols he had taken home, and distributed the
gold and silver pieces to the poor. When this was discovered, Theodore gladly
admitted his deed and confessed Christ boldly. The Emperor, in a fury, had the Saint
subjected to many tortures, then crucified. On the cross, he was subject to further
torments and mutilations: parts of his body were cut off, his eyes put out, and he was
shot with arrows, finally being left on the cross for dead. The next day Licinius sent
men to cast his body into the sea, but to their amazement they found the Saint alive, his
body perfectly intact. Through this, many spectators and some of the Emperor's own
men turned to Christ. Seeing that the Saint, far from renouncing Christ, was leading
others to Him, the Emperor promptly had him beheaded. His holy relics were returned
to his family home in Euchaita, where they worked so many miracles that the town
came to be known as Theodoropolis.
- Holy Prophet Zechariah (6th c. BC)
- He was among those who returned to Jerusalem
from the Babylonian captivity, following the decree of Cyrus in 538 BC. With the
Prophet Haggai (December 16) he began to prophesy in Jerusalem in 520, to encourage
the Jews to return to their task of rebuilding the Temple, which they had given up in
discouragement. His prophetic ministry is described both in the Book of Ezra and in the
Old Testament book that bears his name. His prophecies, in addition to speaking to the
situation in which he lived, are replete with prophecies of the coming, and second
coming, of Christ. His name means "The Lord is renowned." Sozomen's Ecclesiastical
History reports that under the Emperor Honorius, Zacharias' holy relics were
discovered by divine revelation in Palestine, and were found to be incorrupt.
source: http://www.abbamoses.com
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