The Orthodox Church commemorates today, on Saturday of the First Week of Great Lent, the miracle of Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit (Tyro).
He lived under the emperor Julian the Apostate, who was an idolater and opposed Great Lent. During the first week of Great Lent, he ordered the city-commander of Constantinople to remove all food provisions from the market and replace them with food from animals that have been sacrificed to idols. He wanted to force Christians to eat them. Saint Theodore appeared in a dream to Archbishop Eudoxius and revealed the secret plan of the emperor. He advised him to tell Christians to eat nothing else but cooked wheat with honey (kolyva).
Great Martyr Theodore the Recruit is considered the secret voice of the Lord within us, which gives us courage. Humans must struggle with humility, persistence, patience, and love until they achieved their full potential and salvation.