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The Martyrdom of St . Theodore El-Mishreke (the Oriental(.

The Martyrdom of St . Theodore El-Mishreke (the Oriental(.

On this day also of the year 306 A .D ., the church celebrates the commemoration of themartyrdom of the courageous prince, St . Theodore El-Mishreke (The Oriental) .He was born in the City of Tyre in 270 A .D . In his youth, he enlisted in the Roman army and waspromoted to the rank of commander . His father's name was Sadrikhos, "Adrakos" who was a highranking official during the reign of Emperor Numerianus (283-284 A .D .), and his mother was thesister of Basilides, the minister .When Emperor Numerianus died in the war against the Persians, his son, Justus, was fighting inthe west . The two officials Sadrikhos and Basilides continued to run the affairs of the Empire,until the infidel Diocletian took charge of the Empire, and started to persecute the Christians .At that time, St . Theodore was in charge of the army that was fighting against the Persians . Hesaw a vision at night: a ladder was extended between earth and heaven, and at the top of theladder the Lord sat on a great throne, surrounded by hosts of angels chanting . He also saw underthe ladder a great beast which was the devil . The Lord said to St . Theodore, "Your blood will beshed for My Name's sake ." The saint asked the Lord, "How about my friend Lawondius?" TheLord replied, "Not only Lawondius, but Banikaros, the Persian, also ."During a truce, between the Roman and Persian armies, St . Theodore met with Banikaros, thecommander of the Persian army . St . Theodore guided him to Christianity and he believed inChrist .Emperor Diocletian ordered that Prince Theodore be brought to him . The prince came back withhis army and with him were Lawondius and Banikaros . When St . Theodore knew that theEmperor was going to ask him to worship idols, he told his soldiers, "Whoever among you wants177to fight for the Name of the Lord Christ, let him come and join me ." They all shouted in oneaccord, "We die with you and your God is our God also ."When he arrived in the city, he left his soldiers outside and went alone to the Emperor whoreceived him well . The Emperor inquired about the war and the army and he asked St . Theodoreto worship Apollo .The saint answered in great courage and faith, "I do not know any god that I can worship exceptmy Master, Jesus Christ ."Diocletian commanded his soldiers to nail the Saint to a tree and to brutally torture him . But theLord was strengthening and comforting him . Finally, he delivered up his pure soul into the hand ofthe Lord Whom he loved . He received the crown of eternal glory in the kingdom of heaven .The Emperor sent the priests of Apollo to the soldiers of the saint, to call upon them to worshipthe idols . They all shouted, "We have no king except our Master, Jesus Christ, Lord of Lords, andKing of Kings ." When the Emperor heard what they said, he had them all beheaded . Theyreceived the crowns of martyrdom and eternal bliss .Their prayers be with us all . Amen .