No likeness on file
Theophilus of Libya
deacon and martyr
SaintResearchedDate unknown
Feast: 8 January (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Born
—
unknown
Died
—
unknown
Beatified
—
not on record
Canonised
—
not on record
Who they were
In Libya, the holy martyrs Theophilus, deacon, and Helladius: tradition says that, after being torn apart and pierced with very sharp shards, they were finally thrown into the fire.
The miracles
There was never a formal cause: he has been honoured as a saint since before the Church's formal processes began.
Why that counted as sanctity
The Roman Martyrology remembers him on 8 January as a deacon martyred in Libya, torn apart, pierced with sharp shards and thrown into the fire.
Sources
- Roman Martyrology, 8 January (Italian Bishops' Conference, Santo del giorno)
- Wikidata Q55861177 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
Checked against the sources listed on 22 September 2026. Corrections welcome.