Martyrs Theophilus the Deacon and Helladius

Theophilus and Helladius were two Christian martyrs who suffered in Libya, in North Africa. The tradition identifies Theophilus as a deacon and Helladius as a layman. They are commemorated together on January 8.

According to the accounts, the two confessed Christ before the governor of Libya. After their confession they were tortured and put to death; by one tradition they died by being cast into a furnace. The surviving sources for these martyrs are brief, and details of their lives beyond their confession and death are not preserved.

Their commemoration on January 8 is kept in the Eastern synaxaria, and the same date is observed for them in the Roman Martyrology. They are generally assigned to the fourth century.