The Holy Hieromartyr Theodotus was a Galatian by birth. The son of Christian parents, he was taught to read and write and excelled in wisdom and virtue from a young age. He came to the island of Cyprus with the preaching of the word of God and turned many away from idolatry, and therefore was appointed bishop of the Cypriot city of Kyrenia.

At that time, the wicked Licinius reigned, and Sabinus was the governor of the island of Cyprus, and then there was a strong persecution against Christians. Having heard about the sermons of Saint Theodotus, the vicar Savin ordered to take the saint to be tortured, but the servant of God, without waiting for the messengers, immediately appeared to the vicar himself and said:

“I'm the one you're looking for. I have neither hidden myself from you nor been brought to you by force, but I have come voluntarily to preach the Christ of my God, the Truth that should not be hidden, and to expose the insignificance and impotence of your wickedness. The case itself clearly shows that you are more cowardly than toads. Because of one Christian, the whole city and the army have been confused and are trying to destroy him.”

The governor could not tolerate such chastisement and ordered the saint to be beaten with hard veins without mercy, but he put the tormentor to shame with his patience and ridicule, saying:

“The God I serve has made me more powerful than kings and stronger than princes, and therefore I speak to you as to a slave, and consider you to be worthless than a prisoner. With the help of my God, who has taught me to despise all the blessings of life, like hay, chaff, and manure, I neglect all torments. Don't try to scare me. You boast that you have power over my body, but then the robbers in the deserts have the same power when they attack travelers and torment them. You consider yourself powerful, relying on your sword, a lawless sword, because you have replaced legitimate authority with tyranny: you release adulterers and homicides from punishment by subjecting innocent and pious people to it.”

Greatly enraged, the governor ordered the naked martyr to be hung on a tree and his sides to be whittled with sharp tools. Enduring these fierce torments, the sufferer of Christ prayed: “Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of all things visible and invisible, who captured death, destroyed hell, killed the beginnings and powers of hell on the Cross, tamed the flames of the cave of Babylon, strengthen me in these torments! Give glory to Your name, O Lord, and give strength to my impotence. May the whole universe understand that You are the Only God Above, who gives strength and strength to those who rely on You!”

During prayer, the executioners so tortured the saint's body that his bones were exposed, and the governor ordered him to be taken to prison. On the way to the prison, Saint Theodotus loudly exclaimed: “Understand, you who see my torments, that I am not suffering without hope. There is a reward for martyrdom in Christ, in Whom I rely.”

He stayed in prison for five days, and then was brought back to the vicar for trial, who began to persuade him to renounce Christ. Saint Theodotus replied:

“Don't you understand, my God-forsaken one, that although my body is broken by torments and my sides are torn, yet I have come to you with courage even now, ready to accept all sufferings until I complete the feat of my course and accept the crown prepared for me from my Lord Jesus Christ.” “Do not pronounce the name of the Crucified One here, because you are desecrating the place of judgment with it,” the vicar interrupted him. “A madman full of all kinds of filth! – said Theodotus. ”No wonder you can't hear the name of Christ, because you're like demons, imitating and serving them, just like your ancestors."

Then the vicar Savin ordered to lay the martyr on an iron bed and light brushwood and straw under it. When the sufferer also suffered this torment, the governor was surprised and said:

“Where did you Christians get such ruthlessness from? Who can you have mercy on, being so merciless to yourself, to whom will you be kind, not being kind to yourself?” Saint Theodotus replied: “You don't know true humanity, but you talk about mercy. If you really want to show me mercy, then multiply my torments here.: they will join my crown of truth there.”

The martyr and the tormentor argued a lot more, after which the governor Savin ordered the soldiers to drive nails into the feet of Saint Theodotus and force him to walk. And when the nails were driven into him, he praised Christ: “Son of God! You are my life, and death for You is my gain! I entrust to you those who suffer for Your name, be their Helper. Command this storm to cease, scatter those who rebel against Your Holy Church, so that people may glorify You forever! He also said to the Christians around him: “Brothers! My feat is coming to an end, the crown is near, the pledge of my truth, which Jesus Christ will give me.”

And so saying, he walked, urged on by the warriors, treading with nailed feet. Seeing his patience, many pagans came to believe in Christ, reviled the filthy idols, rebuked the tormentor, and glorified the name of Christ. Upon learning of this, Savin ordered the saint to be thrown into prison again, so that the people would not be deceived by his magical (as he said) teaching, and then began to ponder what kind of death to destroy the holy martyr. Soon, the martyr's wounds began to rot, and the pious Christians who came wiped his scabs with clean handkerchiefs.

When Constantine the Great defeated Maxentius by the power of the cross and granted freedom of faith to all Christians, a decree came from him to stop the persecution and release all those held in bonds for Christ. When Saint Theodotus heard that they wanted to free him, he was very sad, for he wanted to die in agony for Christ. After his release, he went to his city of Cyrene and, after two years on the episcopal throne, rested in the Lord and received the special crown of sanctification and martyrdom from Christ the Lord, crowning His ascetics with eternal glory. The death of the Holy Martyr Theodotus of Cyrene occurred in 320 or 326.