The Holy Martyrs Agathopod the deacon and Theodulus the reader lived in Thessalonica during the reigns of Emperors Diocletian (284-305) and Maximian (284-305) and were members of the church clergy: Saint Deacon Agathopod was a profound elder, and Saint Theodulus, the reader, was young.
Both were distinguished by their righteous lives and piety. One day, Saint Theodulus saw in a dream vision how an unknown man in light clothes put an object in his hand. When he woke up, he saw in his hand a beautiful ring with the image of a Cross and decided that this was a sign of his future martyrdom. By the power of the Cross depicted on the ring, the saint healed many sick people and converted pagans to faith in Christ the Savior.
When Emperor Diocletian issued a decree (303) on the persecution of Christians, many tried to hide from persecution, but Saints Agathopod and Theodulus fearlessly continued to preach the Gospel.
The ruler of Thessalonica, Faustin, having learned about this, ordered them to be brought to his court. After seeing the youth and beauty of Saint Theodulus, Faustin tried to flatter him to abandon Christianity and return to legalized sacrifices. To this, the martyr Theodulus replied that he had long ago renounced his errors and pitied Faustin, who, by his devotion to paganism, condemned himself to eternal death. The ruler offered the martyr a choice: a prosperous life or immediate death. The saint replied that he chooses life, of course, but eternal life, and is not afraid of temporary death.
When Faustin lost hope of convincing the martyr Theodulus, he began to persuade Saint Agathopod. The ruler tried to deceive him and said that Saint Theodulus had already agreed to sacrifice to the gods. But the martyr Agathopod did not believe this. He was sure that Saint Theodulus was ready to offer his life to the True God, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Failing to achieve success, Faustin ordered the martyrs to be sent to prison. In prison, the holy martyrs prayed fervently and boldly preached the Word of God to the prisoners, so that many were converted to Christianity. The governor of the prison, Eutinius, reported this to the governor.
Faustin again called them to trial and began to convince them again to renounce Christ. Before the eyes of Saint Theodulus, those who had previously been Christians, but had changed their faith, were forced to sacrifice to idols. "You have defeated the weak, but in no case will you be able to defeat the strong soldiers of Christ, even if you invent even greater torments!" Saint Theodulus said. The ruler ordered the martyr to bring Christian books. "Behold, my body is being given up for torment," the martyr replied, "do with it what you want; torture me in the most cruel way, but still I will not give the Holy Books for the reproach of the wicked!"
Faustin ordered Saint Theodulus to be brought to the place of execution, where the executioner prepared a sword to cut off his head. The martyr courageously and joyfully exclaimed: "Glory to You, God, Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, who has deigned to suffer for us. Here, by His grace, I am coming to You, I am dying for You with joy!" Then Faustin abolished the execution and imprisoned the martyrs again. There the holy martyrs prayed fervently and both had the same dream. They were sailing on a ship that was wrecked during a storm. The waves washed them ashore in white, shining clothes. The saints told each other the vision and thanked God for the foretold martyrdom.
The next morning, when the martyrs were brought back to Faustin, they announced to him: "We are Christians and we are ready to endure any suffering for the Name of Christ." Faustin ordered them to be thrown into the sea. The soldiers tied stones to Saint Agathopod, and he loudly exclaimed: "This will be our second Baptism, which will wash away our sins, and we will come to Christ clean." Saint Theodulus was also thrown into the sea after him (+ 303).
The sea washed ashore the bodies of the martyrs in light clothes, without stones and without ropes. The Christians took their holy bodies and gave them an honest burial.