A few days later, Bishop Theopempt of Nicomedia (he was the first to suffer in the persecution of Christians by Diocletian) was captured in the outskirts of the city. When brought to trial before the king, he said:
"These gods, silver and gold, wood and stone, which you worship, are not gods at all, for they can neither breathe, nor speak, nor do anything good or evil; but the Almighty Heavenly God created heaven, earth, and sea, and all that is in them.
When the saint spoke this and much more about the Christian faith, the king said to him in anger:
“I have not called you to reason, but so that you may offer a sacrifice to the god Apollo without further ado.
Saint Theopempt answered this with these words:
"I will never sacrifice to such gods, and I will never fear the torments you might inflict on me, for it is written: 'And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul' ( Matthew 10:28 ). And you, having power over my body, do as you please!"
Then the king ordered the furnace to be heated so that he could throw the holy bishop into it. The soldiers heated the furnace as hot as possible, from morning until noon. At this point, the holy bishop said to them:
“Wait a little, and I will show you the power of the Lord my God, for whose holy name this furnace is being heated for me.
Having said this, the saint threw himself into the blazing furnace and sat down in its center. The soldiers, believing he had been immediately consumed, departed. But at midnight, the holy man, emerging from the furnace, entered the royal bedchamber, the doors of which opened before him of their own accord. He awakened the king and said to him:
“I am Theopemptus, bishop, a servant of Jesus Christ: I am not dead, but alive, although you commanded me to be put to death.
Having said this, he entered the furnace again. The king, seeing the saint and hearing his words, was horrified and seemed struck dumb with intense fear. The next morning, summoning his soldiers, he said to them:
– Did you throw into the fiery furnace that Christian whom I commanded you to throw?
The warriors answered:
“We did, sir, as you commanded – we abandoned him, and he perished in the fire yesterday.
Then Diocletian rose and went with his soldiers to the furnace, where he heard the holy bishop singing and praising God in the midst of the blazing furnace. This filled the emperor with great astonishment, and when the saint emerged from the furnace unharmed, the emperor said to those around him:
– Look how powerful Christian magic is; I have heard that Christians perform their magical deeds in the name of some Jesus.
After this, the king immediately ordered the dog to be taken and thrown into the furnace, to see if it would remain whole, as the bishop had miraculously remained whole. But the dog was immediately consumed. Seeing this, the king said to the man of God:
“I will subject you to the most severe torture as an impious person, because I am convinced that you are a seducer and a sorcerer.
He ordered him to be locked in a tight prison and given neither bread nor water until the day the king decided to judge him. The man of God remained in that prison for twenty-two days without food or drink, strengthened by God. At the end of this time, the king said to his soldiers:
- Let's go and see if that Christian is alive or already dead?
Finding him alive and joyful, as if after a royal dinner, Diocletian became angry and, having led the blessed bishop out of prison, tore his clothes, clasped his hands and said:
– Look how powerful Christian magic is!
But the blessed bishop said to this:
"How long, wretched one, will you remain blinded, and how long will you refuse to acknowledge the true God in whom I believe? For He gave me strength and fortitude so that I might conquer you and so that I might rise above and despise all the torments you invent for me."
At these words, the king commanded that the saint's right eye be plucked out and placed in the martyr's right hand, and then that he be taken to prison. As the saint began to pray, a great light shone before him in the prison, and immediately the apple of his eye opened and became whole and healthy, like the other. Upon learning of this and seeing the saint, the king grew even more angry and said:
“I swear by the Roman Apollo 253 that I will not rest until I find a more powerful magician who could destroy all your tricks and magical actions!”
Having said this, the king again ordered him to be taken to prison, and he himself sent decrees to all the countries subject to him, with the following content:
"If any magician," the king wrote, "can destroy Christian sorcery, let him appear as soon as possible; he will receive great gifts and great honors."
And then came a magician named Theona, who, appearing before Diocletian, said:
“At your command, I have come to destroy Christian magic as quickly as possible, and I will certainly fulfill what I promise you.
Hearing this, the king was delighted and said:
"I have a Christian prince in prison. When you destroy his magical power, you will receive great honors from us."
Feona told him to this:
“Let this Christian perform some miracle before me, and I will destroy all his works in your presence.
The king was delighted by this and said to Theona:
“However, I would like to see some sign performed by you first.”
Theona then asked for the fiercest bull to be brought to him. When the bull was brought, Theona whispered some words in its ear, and the bull instantly split into two pieces, each lying separately.
Then the astonished king said:
- Indeed, you can destroy Christian magic!
“Wait a little longer, Tsar,” Feona answered him, “and you will understand the full magnitude of the miracle that has occurred!”
Having said this, he ordered a scale to be brought to him and placed both halves of the ox on it, finding them both equal in weight. Immediately after this, Diocletian ordered the holy Bishop Theopemptus to be brought to him and, placing him opposite the sorcerer, said to him:
"I know you're a deceiver and a sorcerer! This sorcerer came from Egypt, and now I want to find out which of you two is stronger in magic."
Then Feona said to the bishop:
“I will show you two actions of my magical power, and if they do not harm you, then I will believe in your God.
Having made two round cakes from flour, he offered them to the bishop to eat. The bishop took them and ate them, and they tasted as sweet as honey and did him no harm.
Seeing this, Feona was surprised and said:
“I will test one more miraculous effect of my art on you, and if it does not harm you, then I will believe in your God.
Taking a cup of water, he put a poisonous herb into it and called upon the most powerful demons to help him so that the poison would act more strongly, and then he gave the water to the saint to drink.
When the saint drank it without any harm to himself, Theona immediately fell at the feet of the holy bishop and said:
– There is no other God in whom one can trust except Jesus!
And then he said to the king:
- I am a Christian and I worship the Crucified!
Hearing this, the king became very confused and exclaimed:
– Great are the miracles of Christian wizards!
And he ordered both of them taken to prison. There, the holy bishop, having taught Theon the faith, renamed him Synesius (meaning "full of understanding," for with a pure heart he understood and knew Christ, God and Lord) and baptized him.
The next morning the king ordered the holy bishop to be brought to him and, bowing his head before him, said to him:
- Hello, teacher of wizards.
And then he began to persuade him to convert to the impious Hellenic faith. When the saint refused to sacrifice to the gods, the emperor ordered him stretched out face-up on the ground and bound by his hands and feet to four trees. He then ordered a rather large fragment of a stone pillar, barely large enough for eight men to carry, to be brought and placed on the saint's stomach. But the holy bishop prayed to God—and immediately the stone that had been placed on his stomach rose of its own accord and was thrown far away from him, a distance of almost fifteen cubits. Then Diocletian ordered the saint to be hung by his feet, head down, and a heavy stone to be tied to his neck, leaving him hanging in this position from morning until the third hour of the day. Then he ordered the rope by which the saint was suspended by his feet to be suddenly cut; he thought that if he fell, he would be crushed by the heavy stone, broken, and thus perish ignominiously. But when this was done, the holy bishop, by the power of God, rose upright. After this, the torturer pronounced the death sentence upon him.
The saint, hearing him with joy, exclaimed loudly:
"Blessed be God, the Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, that He has enabled me to reach the day I have always longed for. Therefore, I pray Thee, O Lord, remember me forever and at this very hour!"
Having said this, he knelt down and, having been beheaded, died in peace, confessing the Holy Trinity.
Then the king ordered the sorcerer Theonas, who had come to believe in Christ, to be brought to him. When neither flattery nor threats could persuade him to sacrifice to idols, he ordered him thrown into a deep pit and covered with earth. Fierce horses were also brought, which trampled the earth heaped upon the saint as he was thrown into the pit. Thus, Saint Theonas, covered with earth and trampled for a long time by the horses' feet, departed to the Lord .
The holy martyrs, Bishop Theopemptus and Theona, also known as Synesius, accomplished their suffering feat in Nicomedia, during the reign of Emperor Diocletian, under the authority of the Supreme King, our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory forever, amen.
Source: https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Dmitrij_Rostovskij/zhitija-svjatykh/12