Righteous 2nd century

Theotimos & Theodoulos

died c. 117

Also known as the executioners converted by St. Hermione

Two executioners who came to faith in Christ through St. Hermione and reposed in peace (c. 117)

Feast Day

September 4

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Commemorated as

The Holy Righteous Theotimos and Theodoulos the Executioners

Life

Theotimos and Theodoulos were two executioners at Ephesus in Asia Minor who, by tradition, were charged with carrying out the death sentence against the Martyr Hermione, a daughter of the Apostle Philip the Deacon. They are commemorated together with her on September 4, and the synaxarion records that they came to faith in Christ through her and reposed in peace around the year 117.

According to the account preserved in the life of Saint Hermione, the two men were commanded by the emperor to lead the saint outside the city and put her to death. Because they hurried to the execution without allowing her time to pray, their hands were withered. Recognizing the sign, they believed in Jesus Christ and fell at Hermione's feet in repentance.

The tradition relates that the executioners entreated Hermione to pray that the Lord would heal them and call them to Himself before her own martyrdom, and that this came to pass through her prayers. Hermione was afterward beheaded and buried at Ephesus, while Theotimos and Theodoulos are remembered not as martyrs but as righteous men who died peacefully, having turned to Christ in their final hour.

Contributions & Legacy

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Conversion and Repose

The defining episode of the two executioners' account is their sudden conversion at the place of execution. The withering of their hands, related in the synaxarion as a response to their haste in denying the saint time to pray, is presented as the occasion of their belief rather than a punishment that endured. Falling in repentance before the one they had been sent to kill, they sought not deliverance from death but the grace of dying in faith.

Unlike Hermione, who was beheaded, Theotimos and Theodoulos are commemorated as having reposed in peace. The liturgical books list them among the righteous, and their feast is kept on the same day as that of the saint through whom they came to believe.

Sources: Synaxarion