SAINT THEODULA AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS - 5 FEBRUARY

 

ALL SAINTS CELEBRATED IN FEBRUARY

Saints celebrated on the 5th of February

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SAINT THEODULA AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS

During the Diocletian persecution, Saints Theodula, Boethus, Evagrius, Macarius, and a number of holy Companions whose names have not come down to us suffered under the Præses Pelagius. At Anazarbus in Cilicia, Saint Theodula was led to his judgment seat. She had been reported to the authorities because she professed Christ as the true God. Since she did remain steadfast, the judge had her hanged by the hair from a cypress tree and had her feet pierced with red-hot nails. Saint Theodula, in her torments, then asked to have an image of a pagan deity brought to her. The pagans gladly complied, and when it was held close to her face, she slowly and deliberately breathed on it, and by her saintly breath, the idol crumbled into pieces.

New torments followed, which she endured with with the greatest perseverance, so that several heathens, among them the court secretary (commentarienses) Helladius (January 24) and Boethus, converted. The latter was beheaded, the other new converts perished by fire. Church art shows Saint Theodula hung by her hair from the branches of a cypress tree, or with a nail in her feet. (I. 656 and 657)

These holy martyrs are also commemorated on January 18.

(Information from Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints, Volume 5, Augsburg, 1882, p. 484)

Stadler's Complete Encyclopedia of Saints - Sources and Abbreviations

PRAYER:

Grant, we beseech you, almighty God, that the venerable feast of Saints Theodula, Boethus, Evagrius, Macarius, Helladius, and Companions may increase our devotion and promote our salvation. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sources of these articles (in the original German): books.google.co.uk, de-academic.com, zeno.org, openlibrary.org