Theonas was a scholar who built a church in
Alexandria,
Egypt dedicated to the name of the Virgin St. Mary, the
Theotokos. Until his time, the faithful were praying and performing their services in homes and in caves for fear of the unbelievers. Pope Theonas dealt with them wisely and gently to achieve what he wanted to do. He converted many of them to believe in the Lord Christ and baptized them. He baptized, in the first year of his papacy, St. Peter, who succeeded him on the apostolic throne of St. Mark and was the 17th Pope. It was said that he ordained
Peter as a reader at the age of five, then he promoted him to be a deacon at the age of twelve, then as a priest at sixteen. At the time of this patriarch, a man by the name of
Sabellius appeared in Alexandria who was teaching that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one person. Theonas excommunicated him. ==Butler's account==