Holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates (Translation of the Relics, 319)

The holy Great Martyr Theodore Stratelates suffered for Christ in Heraclea on 8 February 319. During his torture the saint asked his servant, Uar, to bury his body on his parents’ estate. Uar fulfilled his master’s last wish: on 8 June of the same year he translated his holy relics with honour to Euchaita.

On this same day a miracle worked by the holy icon of the Great Martyr in the church dedicated to him is commemorated. The church, which stood near Damascus in the settlement of Karsata, had been made into a dwelling by the Saracens. One of them shot an arrow at the icon of Saint Theodore and struck it in the shoulder. Suddenly blood spurted from that spot. Soon the unbelievers who had settled in the church died one after another. This miracle is told by the holy Patriarch Anastasius of Antioch (+599, commemorated 20 April) and the Venerable John of Damascus (+c. 780, commemorated 4 December) (for information about Saint Theodore Stratelates, see the readings for 8 February).