Holy Hieromartyr Theodōrētos of Antioch

Saint Theodōrētos of Antioch
القدّيس ثيودوريطس الأنطاكي

In the Holy Orthodox Church, today is the Sunday of the Triumph of Orthodoxy, in which we commemorate the restoration of the use of icons in the Church under the ninth-century Empress Saint Theodōra (Mamikonian) – not to be confused with the sixth-century Empress Saint Theodōra (Ákákiou), the wife of Emperor Saint Justinian. I shall have a few words to say yet on the veneration of icons, but in addition to being the Sunday of Orthodoxy today it also happens to be the feast of Saint Theodōrētos, one of the holy martyrs of Antioch under the persecutions of Emperor Julian.

Sadly, all the sources we have on the life of the fourth-century Saint Theodōrētos [Gk. Θεοδώρητος, Ar. Thiyyûdûrîṭus ثيودوريطس] are secondary hagiographies; he does not appear directly on the lists of hierarchs of the Antiochian Church. This is not an argument against his historicity; he may indeed have been a priest or an auxiliary bishop in the high cathedral in Antioch, which had been built by Saint Constantine the Great and adorned richly by his son Constantius II. Additionally, he may very well have been the martyr for whom Blessed Theodoret of Kyrrhos was named. The hagiographies account Saint Theodōrētos as the keeper of the holy vessels in the cathedral, and of the precious and Holy Gifts which were kept there.

Emperor Constantius II died in the year 361 and was succeeded by Julian. Of Julian’s infamous exploits in Antioch; of his hypocritical venerations of the Roman gods in the East; of his threefold strategy to divide, disenfranchise and exploit the Empire’s Christians; and of his bloodthirsty and self-destructive warmongering against Persia, more has been said elsewhere. Suffice it to say that Theodōrētos was one of the first victims of Julian’s policy of confiscation of church properties and outrages against the bodies and lives of the Christians of the East.

Emperor Julian sent his uncle – a præfectus, also named Julian – and a wealthy local named Felix, to implement his policy in Antioch of liquidating Christian churches and sending their wealth to the treasury to fund his war against Persia. The præfectus Julian used to be a Christian – and indeed a reader in the Church of Antioch. But as the emperor’s agents they went about their task with zeal, being reverted to paganism and not only with disregard but with an active hatred against the Christian faith. They ordered the Roman soldiery to break into the cathedral at Antioch, and place the presbyter Theodōrētos under arrest. Like ravening vultures the soldiers began to strip and plunder the altar of everything they thought valuable. A Christian man named Euzōios, who happened to be in the church at this time, spoke out against this indignity, and for that he was put to the sword and thus attained martyrdom. The præfectus Julian accused Saint Theodōrētos of hiding further valuables from him, which the holy priest strenuously denied. In addition, Theodōrētos made bold to rebuke and upbraid both the præfect and the Emperor for their apostasy.

Julian, riled to wrath, ordered the soldiers to throw Saint Theodōrētos into gaol and torture him. First they broke his legs, then they struck him on the head, and they raised him upon a pole and whipped him for three hours, until the blood ran from his body ‘like a faucet’. The præfect abused the priest for a wretch and a sinner, and told him to sacrifice to the pagan gods and clear his debts to the Emperor; and Theodōrētos responded boldly:

You, O miserable one, are the wretch; you and your Emperor both. For you left Christ and followed Antichrist. Hence you will become tinder in the æternal fires of Hell. I have no debts toward anyone, except to my Lord Jesus Christ; I am indebted to Him to keep the true faith until my last breath.

Julian ordered the executioners to burn the sides of the saint with burning oil from hot lamps, but as they moved to do so Saint Theodōrētos prayed to Heaven, and at once the executioners were stricken down as though dead; and when they rose they confessed Christ. Seeing this Julian had them sentenced to death for cowardice and dereliction of duty, and ordered them to be cast into the sea. When Saint Theodōrētos heard this, he gave heart to the enlightened executioners, saying that they would inherit Paradise and that he would be with them soon.

Before he achieved to the crown of martyrdom, Saint Theodōrētos prophesied to the præfect Julian that he would die from an affliction of the bowels and that his soul would be thrice-cursed for his apostasy. He also prophesied that his nephew, the treacherous Emperor Julian, would in the land of Persia be ‘pierced by a lance from heaven’, and that he would not return from thence, but perish everlastingly for his impieties. The præfect sent the saint to the execution ground to be beheaded on the twenty-second of October, 362, and he went there with a light heart and a joyful soul, and offered himself up meekly to death – thus he gained his reward in heaven. As regards both Julians, uncle and nephew, it fell out exactly as Saint Theodōrētos had prophesied. Emperor Julian was killed in action against Šâpur II, Šâh of Persia. And Bishop Theodoret of Kyrrhos informs us that the præfect Julian suffered horribly from an inflammation of his intestines that ultimately claimed his life; at the urgings of his Christian wife he attempted at the last to have the properties of the Church in Antioch restored. His message, however, was not received before he died.

The relics of Saint Theodōrētos were taken up by the Christians of Antioch, and he was buried with great honours in the cathedral he had served so faithfully. Holy hieromartyr Theodōrētos, fearless witness to the all-meek one against the powerful of the earth, pray unto Christ our God that our souls may be saved!