Holy Martyrs Dorothea, Christina, Callista and Theophilus (+288–300)

The holy Martyr Dorothea lived in Caesarea of Cappadocia. She suffered in the time of the Emperor Diocletian, in 288 or 300, together with Saints Christina, Callista and Theophilus.

Saint Dorothea was a pious Christian maiden, distinguished by humility, meekness and good sense. Seized by order of the governor Sapricius, the saint courageously confessed Christ, for which she was terribly tortured. The unbending maiden was handed over to the sisters Christina and Callista. They too had once been Christians, but for fear of torture had fallen away from the true God and given themselves to a lawless life. The governor charged the sisters with persuading Dorothea to offer sacrifice to the pagan deities, but the opposite happened: Dorothea herself convinced the apostates that by God’s mercy the sins of all who repent are forgiven. The saints returned to Christ. For this the tormentors tied them back to back, put them into a barrel of pitch and burned them.

Saint Dorothea was handed over to torture again. She bore the torments with joy, and with joy met the sentence of death. A learned man, the scholastic Theophilus, said mockingly to the maiden: “Bride of Christ, send me roses and apples from your Bridegroom’s garden.” The saint calmly bowed her head. Before her death she asked for time to pray. When she had finished her prayer, an angel stood before her in the form of a handsome youth and brought her three apples and three roses in a spotless cloth. The lamb of Christ asked that all this be given to Theophilus, after which she was beheaded. The wonderful gift terrified the persecutor of Christians; he believed in the Saviour and confessed Christ. For this he too was terribly tortured and killed with the sword.

The incorrupt relics of Saint Dorothea rest in Rome, in the church dedicated to her, and her head is also kept in Rome, in the church of the Theotokos in Trastevere.