The suffering of the holy martyr Theodore, bishop of Cyrene

The holy martyr Theodore lived during the reign of Emperor Diocletian in the city of Cyrene, which was in Libya, and of which Simon of Cyrene was a native. When Jesus Christ, while walking on Golgotha, fell weary under the weight of the cross, the latter was laid upon Simon, who carried him to the place of his crucifixion (Matthew 27:32; Mark 15:31; Luke 23:26). He left many fine writings and many fine works of art in this church.

And his own son, Leia, denounced him to Dibilianus, that he had books, and that he was turning many away from the worship of the gods to Christ. And after this denouncement, St. Theodorus was brought to the Ecumenical Patriarch, and many Christians followed him, among whom were St. Lucius and St. Hiero. And they demanded of him that he should give up his books; but he would not, and did not obey when they commanded him to deny Christ.

And when St. Theodorus had taken away his tongue from the holy women, he put it on his breast, and all saw how the dove, leaping out of the window of the dungeon, touched the saint; and when Luke, a certain heathen, saw it, he believed in Christ, and the holy martyr was made well, but after a short time he died, and his soul went out of his body with the dove.

Then they both sailed from Crete to the island of Cyprus to another Aegemon, who betrayed the sufferings of the Christians, and Lucius secretly surrendered himself to the tormentors. He went and destroyed the pagan altars, for which he was beheaded with a sword. Dionysius took his body and gave it for burial. The memory of these holy martyrs is celebrated in the temple of St. Theodore, which is in Perga.

The holy martyr Kyprilla was from the same town where St. Theodore lived. She married and lived with her husband for about two years and after his death remained a widow for 28 years. Suffering from severe headaches and feeling sorry for her parents, she came to be healed of her illness to St. Bishop Fyodor, who was already imprisoned for confessing his faith in Christ.

Then the executioners burned her hand, holding her over the fire, and then hung her on a tree and began to tear her body, and from the wounds flowed blood, and from the nipples milk.