saint
Martyrs Theopempt and Theonas
The bishop Theopempt of Nicomedia, who refused to recant his faith before Diocletian and was beheaded, and Theonas, a magician sent to destroy him who was instead converted, then immersed himself in a stream as his own baptism and received the crown at the same hour.
Life
Theopempt was bishop of Nicomedia during the persecution of Diocletian, and Theonas was a magician of considerable reputation in the city's pagan circles — the two coming together in a sequence that the synaxarion records as one of the more vivid conversion narratives of the persecution era. Theopempt was arrested early in the campaign and tortured publicly to draw out the Christian community of the city.
Theonas, summoned by the emperor to use his arts to confound the bishop's prayers and produce signs that would discredit Christianity, came forward at Diocletian's request. The synaxarion records that he attempted three demonstrations and all three failed — the cup of poison Theonas offered Theopempt was drunk without effect; the sorcery he attempted in the dungeon produced no result; the demon he summoned refused to appear in the presence of the bishop's prayers. Theonas, seeing what was being done, confessed Christ on the spot, was baptized by Theopempt in the prison itself, and was arrested.
Both were beheaded together. Their joint feast falls on January 5, on the eve of the Theophany.
Traditions
Feast day
January 5
Topics
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