The Copts celebrate the martyrdom of St. Theodore the General on the 20th of Epip, an event which is mentioned in the Coptic synaxarium. No English-speaking scholar has edited the Coptic synaxarium but it was translated into Latin, German and French. The best edition is that of the French Rène Basset which was published in five volumes of Patrologia Orientalis (tomes 1, 3, 11, 16, and 17) from 1907 to 1923, under the title Synaxaire Arabe-Jacobite. The Life of St. Theodore the General is published in P.O. Tome 17 (1923), pp. 666-668: Les mois de Baounah, Abib, Mésoré et jours complémentaires, which the reader can access here.
When one compares this Life with those found in Coptic language manuscripts (which we will talk about later), it is clear that it is a condensed Life, basically a summary of the saint’s life as we find it in the detailed available manuscripts. I will give an English translation here since the online saint’s life which is sponsored by Coptic churches in the west is altered incorporating some elements from other sources. The reader can see an example here, which is in the website of the Coptic Orthodox Church Network. I will do the translation, which I hope to be as faithful to the Arabic text as possible, in short paragraphs, with each one including a separate thought. I will add notes for clarification. This synaxarium version will serve as a starting point of finding more about the Egyptian martyr and saint.
The Twentieth Day of the Month of Epip
On this day the great saint Theodore was martyred.
The name of the father of this saint was Yonis.[1] He was from Shwtp[2] in Upper Egypt.
He was seized with the recruited crowds who were sent to Antioch.[3]
He lived there and got married to a daughter of a patrician who worshipped idols. She did not know whom he worshipped.
And he begot from her this saint Theodore.
And when she wanted to introduce him to the houses of idols and teach him their worship, his father did not allow her.
She was outraged by that and kicked him out.
And as the child stayed with his mother, his father continued to pray to God so that He may lead him to the way of salvation.
And the saint grew up and learned sciences and wisdom.
And Christ lit the eyes of his heart; and he went to a saintly bishop who baptised him. And when his mother heard it, the matter fell badly on her.
And he enquired about his father, asking if he had died. And some boys[4] confided in him his story and that his mother had kicked him out because he was Christian.
And the saint grew and learned the skills of horse riding, and he became a soldier in the service of the king.
Then he became isfahslar[5] of the army.
And when the king went to fight the Persians, he took the saint [with him].
And, together with Theodore the Eastern,[6] he snatched the son of their king.
And there was in the city of Ukhidis[7] a great dragon. And they [the inhabitants of the city] worshiped it, and every year they presented it with somebody to eat. And there was in the city a widow who had two sons. And they [the inhabitants of the city] took them [the two boys] to present to the dragon. And it so happened that the saint came to the city, and the woman stood before him weeping, and told him of her story. And when he knew that she was Christian, he said unto himself, “This woman is a widow and oppressed, and God will avenge her.” He then dismounted his horse and directed his face to the east and prayed. Then he moved towards the dragon while all the inhabitants of the city were watching him from the city walls. And its [the dragon’s] length was twelve cubits. And God gave him strength over it, and he stabbed with his spear and killed it. And he saved the boys of the widow.
And after that he came to Upper Egypt in search of his father, and he enquired about him. And they [the Egyptians of the area] brought him [his father] to him. And he recognised him by the proofs and signs that he had shown him. And he stayed with his father until he [his father] died.
Then he returned to Antioch, and he found that the king had become unbeliever and persecuted those who believed in Christ.
And he went to him and acknowledged the name of Christ.
The priests of the idols denunciated him, and the people of Ukhidis petitioned the king and informed him that he was the one who had killed the dragon which they worshipped.
So [the king] commanded that he be burned. So, he was thrown into fire, and he completed his martyrdom.
And a faithful woman took his body after she had exchanged it for money and hid it with her until the end of the time of persecution. And she built a beautiful church for him. And it has been said that this woman was his mother.
May his prayer be with us. Amen.
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[1] This is the Arabic rendering of the Coptic name Yuhannis (in Sahidic Coptic), Yu’annis (in Bohairic Coptic) – the Coptic name equivalent to John. Since the father of the saint was from Upper Egypt, his name was most probably pronounced and spelled Yuhannis.
[2] Shwtp is a town a little bit south of Asyut in Upper Egypt, on the eastern bank of the Nile. E. Amelineau, la géographie de l egypte à l époque copte. Arabic influenced the pronunciation of the word, and it is now pronounced as Shoṭb (شُطْب) or Shaṭb (شَطْب).
[3] Antioch of Pisidia or Antiochia in Phrygia. It was formerly on the border between the two. It now lies about 1km northeast of Yalvaç, the modern town of Isparta Province in south =western Turkey. The reader must not confuse Antioch of Pisidia with Antioch in Syria.
[4] Probably fellow pupils at the school. They were either taunting him for his Egyptian origin or Christian boys telling him of the reason behind his mother’s story with his father.
[5] Isfahlar (إسفهسلار) is Arabic for the Persian Ispahsalar, meaning army commander, or general officer rank. The term was introduced into use in Egypt during the Fatimid (969 – 1171) and Ayyubid periods (1171 – 1250) and was commonly used in the latter. This is when the Coptic synaxarium was translated into Arabic.
[6] Another martyr but of Roman or Greek origin. Also called Theodore the Oriental, Theodore the Eastern, Theodore the Anatolian. He was contemporaneous with Theodore the Egyptian.
[7] This is the Arabic rendering of the Roman-Byzantine town called in Greek Εὐχάιτα (Euchaita in English), a town in the region of Pontus, in the northern part of Asia Minor, on the southern coast of the Black Sea. Now it is in Turkey, where on its ruins stand the Turkish village Mecitözü, in what is called the Çorum, province in Anatolia.