This St. Teodor was a soldier in the Asia Minor city of Amaseia in Ponte, now northern Turkey. When anti-Christian persecution broke out under Emperor Maximian's Gallery (303-311) and the soldiers were ordered to sacrifice to the gods, Theodore refused. The commander gave him some time to think. However, Teodor not only decided not to sacrifice, but set fire to the temple of the goddess Cybéla in the city. They imprisoned him, cruelly tortured him, and finally burned him alive. It was on February 17 an unspecified year, sometimes in the years 306-311. He was buried in the village of Euchaita near Amaseia. It was built over his grave in the 4th century. the basilica, which became the destination of pilgrimages. In this basilica had St. Gregor Nysénsky (+394) on the Feast of the Holy Martyr's Discipline, which is the oldest source of news about him. Euchaita became a bishop's residence in the 5th century and was later named Theodoropolis after the martyr.
Respect for the martyr Teodor spread relatively quickly in the Christian East. It penetrated the West in the late 5th or early 6th century. In the basilica of St. Cosmos and Damian in Rome, built before 530, is already a mosaic painting of St. Teodora. At the end of the 6th century. the monasteries of Palermo, Messina, Ravenna and Naples have already been dedicated to him. In Rome at the foot of the Palatine, he was in honor of the martyr soldier Theodore in the 7th century. built a church that was consecrated on November 9. Thus this day became a day of his reverence in the West.
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