Martyrs Theodore the Varangian and his son John

Saint Martyr Theodore was a Varangian (Scandinavian) who had served in Byzantium, where he was baptized, and then entered the service of Prince Vladimir of Kiev, raising his son John in the Christian faith. After Vladimir's victory over the Yatvingians, the pagan priests cast lots to determine which youth would be sacrificed to the idols — the lot fell on John, described in the Chronicle as "beautiful in face and soul."

When messengers came for his son, Theodore refused to hand him over, openly denouncing the idols before the assembled crowd: "These are not gods, but wood: today it exists, tomorrow it will rot" — and preaching the one true God worshipped by the Greeks. In response, the enraged pagan mob attacked Theodore's house. Father and son, armed, stood together on the raised gallery of the house; unable to overcome them by direct assault, the mob undermined the supporting posts, collapsing the structure, and the father and son, dying beneath the wreckage, met a martyr's end in 983.

This event, recorded in the Primary Chronicle (Tale of Bygone Years), is traditionally cited by the Church as one of the factors that weighed on Prince Vladimir's conscience, contributing to his own conversion and the Baptism of Rus' in 988. Theodore and John are venerated as the first martyrs of the Russian land and are included in the Synaxis of Kievan and All Russian Saints.

Their feast is kept on July 12/25.