During the reign of Emperor Antoninus, when Pergamon was under the governance of the military commander Theodotus, young men were ordered to enter military service. Among them was the blessed Theodore, who refused to serve any earthly king, proclaiming that he was a soldier of the Heavenly Kingdom alone. The military leader, upon learning of his Christian faith, ordered that he be cruelly beaten. However, Theodore remained steadfast.
The military commander ordered a fire to be kindled and boiling tar to be poured over the saint, but the flames were miraculously extinguished, and Theodore remained unharmed. The other soldiers, seeing this, began to doubt their beliefs. The priest Dioscorus, believing in the power of Jesus Christ, also became a martyr. Theodore and two soldiers, Socrates and Dionysius, were thrown into a furnace but stayed alive thanks to Divine Grace.
Theodore prayed for his mother, who had been captured by the pagans. She received a vision in which he appeared before her. In the morning, the military leader, learning of the miracle, was filled with fear and ordered Theodore to be crucified, while his mother and the soldiers were to be beheaded. Saint Theodore, after three days on the cross, departed to the Lord. Their bodies were buried with great honor.
