On the 11th day of November
From the «Lives of the Saints» of St. Demetrius (Dimitri) of Rostov
Birth in Constantinople, and His Education
There was in Constantinople a well-born and wealthy man named Photinus, whose wife was Theoktiste — both of them pious and God-fearing. They bore this blessed Theodore and, baptizing him according to the Christian custom, brought him up in good conduct, and gave him to the learning of books. The heresy of iconoclasm was spreading at that time, when the unrighteous emperor Constantine Copronymus reigned, and there was great persecution of the pious. Therefore Photinus, leaving the honour and authority which he had from the emperor, and taking counsel with his wife, distributed all his estate, renounced the world, and accepted the monastic life, in which he dwelt well until his death. But the blessed Theodore, studying Hellenic wisdom, became an excellent rhetorician and a good philosopher, and contended with the impious concerning the pious faith. So skilled was he in the Divine Scriptures and dogmas that the heretics could never overcome him. And when the impious emperor Copronymus died, his son Leo came after him, and followed the impieties of his father. He did not reign long, but soon both his reign and his life ended; and after him his wife Irene, together with her son Constantine, sat upon the throne. That pious woman, being by her name — which means peace — made peace for the Church in deed also, and quieted its disturbance. For she summoned a great number of the venerable fathers and, with the most holy Patriarch Tarasius, assembled the Seventh Ecumenical Council at Nicaea, at which, having rejected the impious teachings of the heretics, they decreed that the divine icons should again be honoured as before, and worshipped. And there were gathered together up to three hundred and sixty fathers.
Holy Plato, and the Monastery of Sakkoudion
Among them was the sacred Plato, who had formerly dwelt on Mount Olympus — his memory is honoured on the fifth day of April — and he was uncle to the blessed Theodore by his mother, so that Theodore was his nephew. For Plato had in himself the living Spirit of God, and was of profit to all, skilled in the Divine Scriptures and sweet of speech in conversation. And when the council was finished, the blessed Plato took with him the blessed Theodore, and with him his two brothers Joseph and Euthymius, who wished to accept the monastic life. With them therefore he set out and came to a certain place called Sakkoudion, which was very beautiful and pleasing for those who desired silence, situated on a mountain, level and round in shape, with all manner of tall trees around it and sweet running water. There was only one passage by road into that place; and seeing this, they all approved of it and settled there, and little by little built a church in the name of St. John the Theologian. And when the brotherhood began to increase, the sacred Plato founded a monastery, in which the blessed Theodore was also tonsured into monasticism, and laboured more than the others and mortified himself with fasting and toil: for choosing for himself the heaviest works and the most dishonourable services, he learned humility. And many marvelled, because he was the child of well-born and wealthy parents, brought up in softness and ease, and yet gave himself to such harsh works — cutting wood, and carrying water, and digging the earth in the gardens, and carrying stones and doing other such things diligently. Many times, carrying dung on his own shoulders into the garden and laying it to feed the vegetables, he helped in the work of those who were weak and unhealthy in body, and was a servant to all.
Confession of Thoughts, and the Virtues of Theodore
He had this care also, that he confessed all his thoughts and deeds to his father, the holy Plato, coming to him with love, confessing and receiving his commands sincerely. He always set aside time for himself daily for meditation on God, that he might stand before God alone, offering Him a certain secret service with an undisturbed mind, unmixed with earthly things. But virtuousness cannot be hidden; for the very tears, which poured abundantly from his eyes, were an unerring witness of the many virtues that dwelt in him. And his temperance was wonderfully and wisely ordered: he neither rejected food nor oppressed his belly out of season, but wisely wore down the head of the vain serpent. He did not fast more than the time established for all the brothers, and when all were at table he also sat and ate with them, yet took so little of the dishes set before him as only to satisfy the need of the body, and to hide his temperance from others, that he might not be known to refuse food, and might not appear to men as a faster. Many were zealous for this manner of his and, so far as they could, tried to imitate it; among others these: Joseph, his brother by nature, who later because of his virtuous life became shepherd of the church of Thessalonica, and Euthymius the second brother; after them Athanasius, and Naucratius, and Timothy, and many other ascetics, who imitated the manner and mind of Theodore and made progress in the virtues. Among his other good works the blessed Theodore had the virtue of book-reading; for diligently reading the Old and New Testaments and the interpretations of the holy fathers, he loved above all the Discourses of St. Basil the Great, and had them as the food of his soul, and received from them abundant sweetness. And he strictly kept the rules and ordinances of the monastic life laid down by St. Basil, not transgressing a single tittle; and those who did not keep the rule, even in the smallest thing, he considered not monks but worldly men.
The Priesthood, and the Abbacy in Place of Plato
The venerable Plato, seeing the blessed Theodore shining so with a virtuous life, rejoiced over him greatly. And he wished therefore to honour him with the priesthood, and took him and led him to Byzantium, to the most holy Patriarch Tarasius, and he was appointed presbyter not so much willingly as by compulsion: for the blessed man did not wish to accept such a rank, calling himself unworthy, and saying that it was above his strength. Yet he could not oppose his spiritual father, and unwillingly obeyed, that he might accept the priesthood. He returned therefore to the monastery, resolving on greater labours and toils, which it is hard even to describe. And after some years the venerable Plato, becoming infirm through overstrained and long old age, wished to lay down his headship, and desired that the blessed Theodore should receive the authority in his place; and he often spoke to him of this, begging and commanding him to lighten the burden for his father and to carry it himself, as being stronger and skilled in all the monastic ordinances. But Theodore refused the authority in every way, preferring rather to live under authority than to hold it, seeing that it is easier and more convenient for salvation to be instructed by others than to instruct anyone. And the venerable Plato, seeing that Theodore would not yield in this, devised the following: he lay down on his bed as though sick — for he was truly already infirm — and summoning all the brotherhood, told them that he was at the point of departure, and asked whom they wished to have as superior after him, and who in their opinion was the best. For the venerable man knew that they would choose no one else but Theodore, for all loved and honoured him for his great virtuousness. And so it happened: all with one mouth said, “Let Theodore be abbot after you, father!” Plato then handed over all the authority to Theodore, and the blessed Theodore could not resist the whole multitude of the brothers, but accepted the authority under compulsion.
His Guidance of the Brotherhood, and the Adultery of the Emperor Constantine
He accepted at the same time the beginning of greater labours, giving an example from himself, teaching by word and by deed, and setting right in the monks the ordinances that had been broken; for there were found then certain who did not keep the monastic ordinances, and above all the vow of poverty and of having no money, and who, like worldly men, lived with no little usury. For these Theodore was grieved, and took care to set them right well in a short time, and he also brought profit to others around, though some murmured against him; but he cared nothing at all for that, for he did not look at what his detractors said about him, but was concerned that his works should be pleasing to God. And afterwards those also became virtuous, doing according to his will and opening their thoughts to him. For he, looking prudently on each, gave each the fitting treatment, stirring up the slothful to labour, and relaxing a little the labour of the more diligent, that they might not be exhausted by many labours. But now it is time for us to tell of the saint’s sufferings, which he endured for the sake of his zeal for God and for the law of God, that we may see his manly endurance in tribulations. At that time the unworthy son of the good and Christ-loving mother, the empress Irene — the emperor Constantine — drove his mother from the throne and began to reign himself. And being young and corrupt in his habits, he gave himself to immoderate passions and adulteries; therefore he resolved to drive away his wife Mary, and by force accomplished her tonsure into the monastic habit, and in her place took another woman named Theodotia, who was a kinswoman of his father.
Patriarch Tarasius, and the Open Zeal of Theodore
But the most holy Patriarch Tarasius did not consent to that adultery of the emperor, and would not bless their crowning. But a certain presbyter named Joseph, who was steward of the church, despising the Divine laws and disobeying the patriarch, became the defender and celebrant of the unlawful marriage, for which he soon received the reward of his boldness, as the following account will show. The patriarch tried in every way to dissolve that adulterous marriage of the emperor, but could not, because the emperor boasted that he would raise up the iconoclast heresy again if that marriage were forbidden him. For this reason the patriarch let the emperor be, that a worse evil might not come upon the Church of Christ. And such lawlessness, beginning from the imperial palace, spread everywhere — not only into the surrounding cities, but even into distant lands. So the princes and rulers who were in Bosporus and in Gothia, and those who ruled in other countries, began to do the same: they cast off their wives and by force tonsured them into monasticism, and took others instead and committed adultery. Hearing this, the blessed Theodore was grieved in soul, and sighing heavily at such openly committed sins, sorrowing and fearing lest such adultery should become customary, and lest lawlessness should become a law to the last generation, and the law of God be destroyed — he was therefore kindled with zeal for the divine law, and sent to all the monks, informing them of the emperor’s lawlessness and commanding them to hold him excommunicate from the Church of Christ, as a destroyer of God’s law, who by the deed itself had excommunicated himself and become a seducer of many, daring openly to commit adultery with a kinswoman, whose deed many began to imitate. So boldly did that father declare the emperor lawless. And that zeal and boldness of Theodore spread everywhere, so that the emperor also learned of it; and learning of it, he was greatly grieved because of him. He did not then show his anger against him, seeing him as a righteous man who had great fame and honour among all.
The Punishment, the Imprisonment at Thessalonica, and the Letters
But first he resolved to win him over with favour, and commanded that adulterous consort of his to send much gold from herself to the saint, asking him for prayer for herself and for her kindred. And when this was done, the saint did not accept the gold, but rejected those sent as consenting to the emperor’s lawlessness. Then the emperor devised another counsel: he arranged his march through those places where the venerable man lived, as though for some need, but in truth in order to converse with Theodore and subject him to himself; for he thought that he would meet him with the brotherhood when he gave the emperor the honour due to him. And when the emperor passed by the monastery of the venerable man, the venerable man did not go out to him, nor any of his brotherhood, but shutting themselves in, they sat in silence, and to the emperor’s servants who knocked at the gate no one gave any answer. Then the emperor was more angered, and returning to his palace, sent afterwards a certain official with soldiers, commanding him to lay many blows upon the saint and the other monks who held with him, and having beaten them, to drive them out of the monastery and send them to prison. And he went, and unexpectedly fell upon the monastery, and seizing all, tormented them mercilessly, beginning with the venerable Theodore, so that their flesh came apart from the wounds and the earth was soaked with blood. After those torments he sent the venerable man to prison in Thessalonica, and with him eleven leading fathers who suffered together with the venerable man, bravely enduring bonds and tribulations with him and rejoicing that for righteousness’ sake they were wounded and persecuted. And the presbyters and monks of Cherson and Bosporus heard how the great Theodore and those with him had remained unshaken in mind and had opposed the emperor’s lawlessness and so suffered, and they grieved greatly for this and, imitating them, also declared the emperor as one who had committed lawlessness and was alien to the Church; for which many of them suffered, being exiled. But the blessed Theodore, being himself in prison, wrote to the others exiled and imprisoned for the same cause, establishing them and teaching them not to weaken in their labours and in tribulations, not to grow faint, but rather to take courage and to suffer for the truth.
The Letter to the Pope, Irene, and the Return
And he wrote also to the Pope of Rome, informing him how much and for what cause he had suffered from the lawless emperor. And the Pope wrote back to him, praising his endurance and calling blessed his zeal in God and his unshaken courage. And God at once avenged upon the emperor the undeserved wrong done to His servants, for He deprived him both of his kingdom and of his life, and the evil emperor perished wretchedly: for his mother and the nobles rose against him, put out his eyes, and afterwards he died of sickness. After his death Irene again took the Greek empire, and all were released from prison, and the blessed Theodore was summoned from Thessalonica to Constantinople, and was greatly honoured by the empress and the patriarch as a confessor of Christ. Then the aforesaid Joseph the presbyter, who had dared to bless the emperor’s unlawful marriage, received judgement according to the canons of the holy fathers, and was deposed from the presbyteral rank and excommunicated from the Church. And the holy Theodore returned to his monastery, and all rejoiced at his return — not only the monks, but the laymen also. And all from the surrounding places came to see him, rejoicing that such a zealot of God’s law, who for righteousness’ sake had endured wounds and exile, was returned again to his flock. For the venerable man gathered his scattered sheep and pastured them as before, leading his God-pleasing life and, like a candle on a lampstand, shining for all with his great virtues. After some years there was an invasion of the Hagarenes against the Greeks, and they made war, taking captive the lands of the Greek state. Then many through fear fled into the fortified cities; therefore the venerable father Theodore, not wishing to bring himself and those with him into such peril, but obeying what was said — “Hide yourself for a little while, until the anger of the Lord passes by” — left Sakkoudion and came with the brotherhood to Constantinople. And his coming was pleasing to the patriarch and the empress, and they rejoiced over him, and begged him to accept the Monastery of Studios and in it to establish a better life for his disciples.
The History of the Monastery of Studios
Here it is fitting to mention also of that monastery — how it began. A certain man of the well-born and very powerful came to Rome, where he was honoured with the rank of patrician and antipatos. He built, in the name of John the Forerunner, a great and very beautiful church, and established a monastery beside it. And summoning monks from the monastery of the Sleepless Ones, he persuaded them to live in his monastery and to keep his whole order. That man’s name was Studios, and from that name the monastery also took its designation and was called the Monastery of Studios. In it the monks lived until the reign of Copronymus, keeping the order of the Sleepless Ones. And when the impious Copronymus oppressed the Church of God with iconoclasm, then he drove all the monks out of Byzantium, and that Monastery of Studios was empty. And when that impious emperor perished and the persecution ceased, the monks again began to live at the church of Studios, but not many. At that time, when the venerable man came with his brotherhood to Constantinople, only twelve monks remained in that monastery. Therefore the venerable man, being entreated by the empress Irene and by the most holy Patriarch Tarasius, accepted the Monastery of Studios and began to live in it, for he saw that the place was pleasing for the dwelling of monks. He restored and enlarged the monastery and gathered much brotherhood; for monks came to him from other monasteries also, who wished to live with him, desiring to have him as their guide and teacher. And he received all fatherly and loved them without hypocrisy. He did not consider more honourable the one tonsured by himself than the one who came tonsured from another monastery (as many unreasonable abbots do, giving preference to those they themselves have tonsured, and holding those tonsured by another not as their own but as strangers); for with the venerable father Theodore all were equal, he loved all alike and had the same care for all, knowing that the monastic habit is one and the same, wherever anyone is clothed in it, since the grace of baptism is one, wherever anyone is counted worthy of it: for only by the measure of virtues did the reward differ among those who live the monastic life. But the disciples of this venerable father made great progress in the virtues, and the fame of their holy life spread everywhere, and many came to him, wishing to imitate their labours, and their number increased greatly, so that there were even a thousand of the brotherhood.
The Rule, the Community of Goods, and the Crafts
The venerable man saw the great number of his disciples, and that it was not possible for him himself to oversee all, and to test the deeds, and words, and thoughts of each; therefore, like a second Moses, he appointed superiors, whom he judged to be more prudent and more skilled in the virtues and more ascetical, and he named each with a fitting title: one steward, one ecclesiarch, one overseer, one disciplinarian — and he named each according to the service established by him. And he wrote commandments also, as to how each of them should carry out what was commanded, from the first even to the last. And he established penances for transgressions: for some a number of prostrations, for others a certain fast; and for each transgression the fitting punishment — when someone left the divine singing, or broke a vessel, or threw something away carelessly, or did something negligently, or wronged a brother in something, or said superfluous words through intemperance of tongue, or laughed aloud, or walked disobediently and without humility, or sat at table conversing and not listening to the reading, or complained of the food, or cast his eyes shamelessly and boldly here and there, or did anything else of that kind — for all this, fitting penances were appointed according to the deeds. And he established also a community, that no one should consider anything his own, but all things common: common food, and common clothing, and a common need for each; for where there is a common life, there let the use also be common. The venerable man took care also that his monks should not often go out of the monastery into the city for the needs of the monastery, for he knew what temptations come to monks who walk about the city, from the sight of strangers’ faces and from hearing evil conversations. Therefore he wished to have all manner of crafts inside the monastery, and the brotherhood learned every kind of handicraft: some woodworking and building, others smithing, others weaving, others still masonry — and every work that the monastery needed. For they were to apply their hands to work, but always to have in their mouths the Jesus Prayer and the psalms of David. And the fame of such customs of the Monastery of Studios, its laws and ordinances, spread everywhere, and many monasteries of every kind in the surrounding cities and in distant lands copied for themselves that Studios beginning, and received and kept it, and others keep it even to this day.
Nicephorus the Tormentor, and a New Imprisonment
The venerable man also wrote not a few very profitable books, and composed panegyrics on the feasts of the Lord and of the Mother of God, and honoured the life of St. John the Baptist with beautiful hymns, and composed many canons and triodes, and, like a river of wisdom full of waters, watered and gladdened the Church of God with the streams of his teachings and hymns. After this, Nicephorus the tormentor seized the Greek empire and drove the pious empress Irene out of the kingdom. Then the most holy Patriarch Tarasius died, and after him there was raised to the throne a virtuous man worthy of that rank, who had the same name as the emperor — for he was called Nicephorus. Then disturbance began again in the Church, for the emperor brought the aforesaid Joseph, who was excommunicated, into the Church by his own authority, and commanded that the celebration of the mysteries be given to him. The patriarch opposed the emperor as far as he could, but when he saw that he raged fiercely, he was afraid lest the whole Church should somehow suffer fiercely from him, as it had more than once suffered from previous fierce emperors; and so he accepted Joseph into communion, though he did not wish it. And the emperor did this in spite of the venerable Theodore, provoking him — for he knew that Theodore would not endure it. And so it came about. For Theodore exposed the emperor, who had done violence to the Church, bringing into the Church by his worldly authority the one whom the most holy Tarasius, with all his clergy, had judged and excommunicated. And the emperor was greatly angered against the venerable Theodore and sent him to prison on the islands before the city. And he did the same to his brother Joseph, and to the all-blessed elder Plato, and to many other monks of Studios. And news came to the emperor that barbarians had come upon Thrace and were taking it captive; the emperor then made ready for war, but he desired not so much to overcome the enemies as the venerable man, and went with his army against the Scythians.
The Answer to the Emperor, Stauracius, and the Death of Plato
He sent to Theodore, bringing him to agreement by flattery and by threats. But Theodore answered: “It behoves you, O emperor, to make repentance for the sin you have committed and to set right what you have destroyed, and so to go to war. But since you have not done this, therefore now the all-seeing eye through me, who am nothing, thus foretells to you: know that it will come to pass, for you will not return from the road on which you go.” And the emperor counted the words of the saint as nothing, and was more angered against him, and boasted also that on his return he would do much evil to the saint. But he was not counted worthy to return, for, according to the prophecy of the saint, he was killed by the barbarians. Therefore after him his son Stauracius took the empire, but he too soon died, for he had been wounded in the battle in which he was with his father; and then Michael, who at that time held the rank of curopalates, was chosen to the empire — a man truly worthy of imperial authority, good and Orthodox. He, receiving the authority, brought the venerable father Theodore back from prison, and all who were with him, and honoured them with fitting honour, and quieted the disturbance in the Church. And Joseph again, like a useless bridle, was cut off from the Church. At that time the sacred and praiseworthy Plato departed to the Lord. And the patriarch, hearing of his death, came with all his clergy to the Monastery of Studios and, having kissed his holy relics, buried him honourably. And the venerable Theodore lived only two years in quiet with his brotherhood until the death of his spiritual father Plato; and afterwards a fierce storm rose again against him and against the whole Church of Christ, from the heretical Leo the Armenian, who had formerly been a military commander under the pious emperor Michael.
Leo the Armenian, and the Beginning of the Iconoclasm
He was sent against the barbarians in the east, and there he gathered a great army and, growing proud, rose against his benefactor, the emperor Michael; and all the officials and soldiers who were under his hand also rose: some seduced by gifts, others by promises, and others by other favours — and he drew them to himself. And so he became emperor, and no one opposed him. And the Orthodox emperor Michael learned of this, and exchanged the imperial purple for a monastic hair-shirt, not wishing to make civil war, and gave up the kingdom to his enemy, and himself took the monastic life. And Leo the Armenian, having received the imperial authority, at first showed himself pious and peaceable, until he was established in the kingdom and had gathered helpers for his impiety. Then he began to revile the holy icons and to reproach those who honoured them, calling such men unreasonable. The patriarch exposed his impiety and contended with him, appealing to the writings concerning the holy icons, but achieved nothing, only rousing the foolish emperor to greater fury. And he then summoned the well-known priests and monks, and the patriarch with them, and called the blessed Theodore also, and openly revealed to them his malice, reviling and reproaching those who honoured the honoured icons; but praising those who destroyed the worship of icons, and saying: “Did not the ancient law, written with the finger of God, command not to serve the work of men’s hands: ‘You shall not make,’ it said, ‘an idol nor any likeness’? For it is not right to worship icons, because a human hand makes them, just as no one can depict the Undescribable on icons, and contain the Uncontainable on boards a cubit wide, and call the one depicted in paint by the divine name.”
The Emperor Refuted from Scripture
The holy fathers opposed his vain words in every way, rejecting his reviling words and saying: “If we keep wholly the law given by Moses, then our Christian faith will be vain, and vain the apostolic preaching, and vain the divine tradition of all the holy fathers. And the Master’s very incarnation (of which it is fearful even to speak) will be rejected; for by it we have known His human form, and have received the honour of icons, honouring in the icons the one who is depicted.” Thus spoke the holy and venerable Theodore, who knew well all the Old and the New Scripture; and he said boldly to the emperor: “From where has this purpose come to you, O emperor, to despise the image of Christ, and to introduce such a heretical commandment into the holy Church, and to tear her garment, woven of heavenly grace and of apostolic and patristic teaching? Do you reason from the Old Law, to which the New Grace, which came with Jesus Christ, has put an end? But if the Old Law, which you hold to, ought to be kept, then circumcision also, and the keeping of the Sabbath, and the other things written in it, ought to be done. Can you not understand this, emperor, that the law was given for a time to one people only, which came out of Egypt, but the shadow has vanished at the appearing of grace; and the Law itself does not everywhere keep what it commanded. It commanded not to make a likeness and not to serve the work of men’s hands, yet it set likenesses of cherubim above the ark — and were not those cherubim the work of men’s hands? Yet all honoured them. And in the New Grace the Lord Himself depicted His own face on a towel and gave it to Abgar. Abgar touched it and received healing from his long-standing sickness. And after that the holy Luke, the Lord’s apostle and evangelist, depicted with his own hands the likenesses of the Mother of the Lord and left them to the last generation.
The Images Not Made by Hands, and the Spiritual Sword
Also the image of the Saviour not made by hands, which appeared in Phoenicia, has wrought wonders and many miracles. And the other wonders which are wrought by the holy images — do they not show more brightly than the sun that worthy honour ought to be given to them?” But the emperor, not listening to the words of the venerable man, said: “I do not wish to depict in colours the invisible and incomprehensible Godhead.” Theodore answered: “We, O emperor, do not describe the Godhead, but we confess and believe in the Undescribable. We depict in icon-writing the flesh of the Son of God, which He took from us, and we worship and honour it.” And the venerable father spoke much from the Divine Scripture and from the traditions of the fathers, and exposed the emperor’s deceit. And the emperor was filled with rage and said to the venerable man in anger: “I know that you always speak what is senseless and quarrelsome, proud and contrary to all. And now you have come to slander and revile me, speaking not as to an emperor, but as to one of the common people — for this you have deserved many torments. But I will still spare you, until our reasoning appears more certainly to be true. And if after this you do not obey, you will receive the punishment due to your folly and stubbornness.” And the venerable fathers then did not wish to say anything more to the emperor, saying in their minds: “Why do we speak to this dissolute soul, which does not wish to be healed?”
“Will You Then Cast Me Out of the Church?”
For the blessed Theodore took up the spiritual sword and spoke to him thus: “Understand, O emperor, and perceive that it is not your business to examine and inquire into the commandments of the Church; to your authority belongs the care and governance of worldly matters, but ecclesiastical affairs belong to the hierarchs and teachers of the Church, and you are commanded only to follow and to obey. So says the apostle: ‘God has set in the Church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers’ — not emperors.” And the emperor said to the venerable man: “Will you then cast me out of the Church?” The venerable man answered: “Not I, but the word of the divine apostles and the tradition of the holy fathers will cast you out: ‘If… an angel from heaven preach to us anything contrary to the holy faith, let him be accursed.’ If you wish to be inside the Church of Christ with us, who worship the icon of Christ, then follow in all things the patriarch, and with him the honoured synod that is with him.” Hearing this, the emperor was filled with greater rage and drove them all away from himself with dishonour. And the venerable fathers, driven from the emperor, went out together with the patriarch, and surrounded the blessed Theodore, praising him with their lips and with their souls at the same time, because with great prudence and courage he had opposed the tormentor and greatly shamed him, boldly exposing his impiety. And as they went home, an edict came from the urban prefect, that no one should converse or inquire concerning the faith, but let all keep only the emperor’s tradition — so the emperor commanded. And those sent with that edict came also to the blessed Theodore; and he, answering, said to them: “Judge yourselves whether it is right to obey you rather than God! Better for my tongue to be cut off than to be silent and not to help the true faith.” And the venerable man taught all to hold the pious faith without doubt, calling some to himself and going himself to others, sending writings to those, and strengthening those who were faint in soul.
Comfort to the Patriarch, and the Deposition of Nicephorus
He often came to the patriarch, being a good counsellor to him and comforting him, for he saw him sorrowful, and he was grieved in soul, and said to him: “Do not grieve, father; the Lord is faithful, and will not forsake us, nor permit a temptation above our strength, nor will He endure that this malice be to the end. And if the enemy raises war against the Church, little by little his sorrow will be turned back upon his own head. Know the word of the Lord, which says: ‘For offences must come, but woe to that man by whom the offence comes.’ For from the days of the holy apostles until now, how many heresies have men of dissolute mind raised against the Church, and how many of those holy fathers who were before us suffered from them! But the Church remains unconquered, and those who suffered are glorified with light and crowned; but the heretics have received according to their deeds.” Hearing this, the patriarch, and with him the whole synod, were strengthened, and all took care to endure all tribulations for piety, and would not submit to impiety. After that a short time passed, and the most holy Patriarch Nicephorus was deposed from his throne by the impious emperor and driven out of Constantinople; and all the Orthodox hierarchs were also condemned to prison. Then there was seen a terrible and dreadful spectacle, of what the iconoclasts did: some cast the holy icons dishonourably on the ground, others gave them to the fire, others still smeared them with filth, and they did much other evil. And the venerable Theodore, seeing such wickedness, groaned bitterly and marvelled at the long-suffering of God, and even wept, saying: “How the earth bears such lawlessness!” Yet he did not wish to be a worshipper of God in secret and to weep in silence at such an evil.
Palm Sunday, the Exile, and the Letter to the Emperor
He commanded his brotherhood — and the feast of Palm Sunday had come — to take the holy icons in their hands and to walk around the monastery, lifting them up on high and singing loudly: “We worship Your most pure image, O Good One,” and offering other hymns of victory to Christ. The emperor learned of this, and sent to the saint, threatening him and forbidding him to do such a thing any more. And if he did not cease, let him know that prison, and wounds, and death awaited him. But the saint not only did not cease, but was the bolder, teaching all loudly and commanding them to keep the pious faith and to give the icons their fitting honour. The emperor saw that it was impossible, neither by favours nor by prohibition, to stop the boldness and zeal of the venerable Theodore, and condemned him to prison. And the venerable man called all his disciples to him and, having sufficiently instructed them, said: “Now, brothers, let each of you save his own soul, since a fierce time has come.” Then, sorrowing and weeping, he left the brotherhood, who wailed after him, and going aboard a ship, was carried to Apollonia and shut up in a prison in the city called Mesopa. Yet even there he taught Orthodoxy, speaking to some with his mouth and sending writings to others, and did not cease to write from prison concerning piety to many. And his writing reached the emperor himself — for he then sent a certain Nicetas, the son of Alexius, commanding him to take the saint away to a distant place called Bonita, and there, shutting him in a prison, to guard him firmly, so that he should never converse with anyone, nor write anything concerning the honour of icons. And Nicetas came to the venerable man and informed him of the emperor’s will. And he answered: “Such a change from place to place I will accept with joy, since I have no fixed place of my own in this life; therefore wherever I am transferred, there will be my place, for God is everywhere. But to be silent and not to teach the true faith is impossible for me; in that I will not obey you, and I will not fear your prohibitions.”
The Prison, the Beating, and the Letters to the Patriarchs
The saint was transferred to the aforesaid place and was shut up in a prison — and there likewise he confessed Orthodoxy. The emperor learned that Theodore in nothing obeyed his will, and was kindled with great anger, and sent that same Nicetas, commanding him to lay cruel wounds upon the venerable man. And Nicetas came to inform the venerable man of the emperor’s command, and the venerable man then began with the word to pull off his clothing from himself, saying: “This I have long desired — let me be wounded for the holy icons!” — and gave his flesh to the beating. But Nicetas was of good temper and merciful, and seeing his flesh laid bare, which great labour and fasting had utterly dried up, he was moved in soul and did not dare to touch him, for he feared God, and went away, having done no evil to the saint at all. For the saint unceasingly spread his good teaching, for even his guards were ashamed and could not forbid him, though it had been commanded them under threat not to allow Theodore to teach anyone Orthodoxy. And he wrote to his disciples, scattered over the earth, caring for them above all, commanding them to keep the confession of the faith with a fearless soul, even if they should suffer a thousand cruelties, and reminding them “that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us”, and so all who endure well will obtain it. And he wrote also to the most holy patriarchs — to the patriarch of Old Rome, and to him of Jerusalem, and of Alexandria — informing them in detail how the holy icons had been dishonoured in Byzantium, and the Orthodox were in prisons and dungeons, and the truth devoured by falsehood; and he begged them to help, with God, the Orthodox faith. And many came to the venerable man, who sat in prison, to listen to the sweet teachings that came from him, and returned with great profit.
The Asian Clerics, and the Cruel Wounds
Once it happened that a certain cleric of the Asian church, passing by, visited the saint. That cleric, having listened to his teaching concerning the Orthodox faith, afterwards rejected the iconoclast heresy and worshipped the holy icons. And he returned to his own house and would not have communion with his bishop, who was a heretic. And afterwards he persuaded another cleric, his friend, and led him to Orthodoxy, and turned him away from heretical communion. And the bishop learned that Theodore was the cause of this change in his clerics, and informed the emperor of it by his writing, complaining of Theodore. The emperor then sent to the governor of Asia, that he should lay cruel wounds upon Theodore. And the governor sent one of his subordinates, commanding him to give Theodore fifty blows. And he came, and when he informed the blessed man of the cause of his coming, Theodore then took off his belt and laid aside his clothing, and offered his shoulders to the blows, saying: “It is sweet to me, with these wounds, to lay down my very body, that I may quickly depart with a naked soul to the desired Lord.” And he was ashamed before the saint, and bowed to him, asking forgiveness, and went away. Then another messenger, named Anastasius, very cruel and merciless, came and with his own hands beat the saint, giving him many wounds, and shut him up in a dark place; and his disciple also, named Nicholas, who always followed his father and was a partaker of his sufferings, he beat also, and shut him up with him. And he commanded the guards to hold them firmly in confinement, and went away.
The Tribulation of the Prison, the Hunger, and the Providence of God
What tribulation the venerable man endured in that dark confinement it is impossible to tell, for his flesh, wasted by fasting and monastic labour, having received such wounds, festered and stank. And that prison was narrow and full of every kind of misery, and filth, and dust; in winter he froze from the cold, for he had no proper clothing, only a certain wretched rag, and in summer he was exhausted by the heat, for no wind cooled that place from anywhere. And fleas, and other living vermin, and small reptiles were in unmeasured multitude, which that prison had; and moreover the guards, having received a command with threats, became cruel and merciless, troubling him and reproaching him, calling him senseless and an enemy of the emperor. They threw through the little window to him and to his disciple a small crust of bread and gave a little water, and that not always, but every day or two, sometimes after many days — so they killed them with hunger and thirst. And the father said to the disciple: “I see, child, that these men wish to kill us not only with many wounds and this wretched prison, but with hunger and thirst. But let us put our hope in God, for He knows how to feed us not only with bread, but with some other better food. By His nod all that breathes is sustained; let the partaking of the Lord’s Body be for me from now on food for soul and body” (for the venerable man always had with him a certain portion of the life-giving Body, soaked with the Blood of Christ the Lord, which he kept in order to celebrate the divine mystery, when it was possible for him), “with this alone,” he said, “let me commune, eating nothing else; let the bread which is given to us both be for you alone, and the water also — for very little, as you see, is given, and it will barely suffice for you alone to sustain your body — that you may remain alive and inform the brotherhood of my departure, if it should be God’s will for me to die in this wretched confinement.” And after a sufficient time, He who satisfies every living thing with His good pleasure did not despise His servant, who was exhausted by very great hunger, but cared for him thus. A certain nobleman of the emperor passed by there, and learned everything about the saint — what confinement he endured and what hunger — for God inclined his heart to mercy; and he commanded that sufficient food be given to the saint and his disciple, and that they be confined no more, but be allowed to live somewhat more comfortably. And so by the good pleasure of God they were for a certain time somewhat freed from those many tribulations, and were strengthened in body; yet the blessed father struggled with many troubles, for his stomach was not healthy and many diseases had seized him.
A Hundred Wounds, and the Care of the Disciple Nicholas
And he remained in the prison more than three years, receiving sorrowful bread from the guards, and that with reproaches and importunity — all this he endured with joy for Orthodoxy. And so they remained, and had not yet wholly recovered from the pains and tribulations they had had, when it was again appointed that they fall into fiercer ones: somehow there came into the emperor’s hands a certain letter of the blessed Theodore, in which was written an exposure of the emperor’s impiety, and instruction to the faithful concerning piety and Orthodoxy. And the emperor read it, and was kindled with greater fury, and sent a certain merciless governor to Theodore, to show him the letter and ask whether it belonged to him, and to beat him to his last breath. And the governor came and showed the letter to the blessed man, and he truthfully confessed that it was his and not another’s. Then the governor commanded first that his disciple Nicholas be beaten, stripped and laid flat, since he had written that letter in Theodore’s name; and afterwards he stripped the venerable Theodore and beat him mercilessly, wounding all his body, and almost breaking his very bones. He left him barely alive, and then turned again to the disciple Nicholas, lashing him and threatening him to renounce the honoured worship of the icons. And finding him unshaken, he beat him again more than the first time, and left him naked to remain the whole night in the cold, that he might be doubly tormented by the pains of his wounds and by the frost, for it was then the month of February. And the venerable Theodore, from the merciless beating, fell into an illness which could not be endured, and lay as though dead, able to breathe only a little, taking neither food nor drink. And the disciple, seeing his father so weakened, did not care for himself, though he himself was seized by a great disease from his wounds, but cared for Theodore’s healing. For he begged for barley-water, which is called ptisan, and moistened his dried-up tongue and gave him a little drink, which revived the dead man. And seeing that he was slowly returning to vital strength, he began to heal the rest of his body, which was festering; for many parts of the body had turned blue and festered, and what hung uselessly he cut off with a knife and threw away, in order to heal more easily the flesh that remained. And when the venerable man began somewhat to return to health, then he healed his disciple also.
The New Messenger, the Hut, and the Sick Governor
So they suffered nineteen days, and had not yet wholly healed from their wounds, when another messenger came from the emperor, stern and inhuman — for he was commanded to take Theodore with his disciple Nicholas to Smyrna. That messenger was a great lover of gold, and therefore thought that Theodore received gold from those who came; therefore he commanded that every crack in the prison be searched, the walls dug out and the earth carried away — he hoped to find gold. And finding nothing, he began to carry out the evil commanded him with increase. With importunity and shoves he brought the venerable man and his disciple out of the prison and gave them to the soldiers — and so they were led to Smyrna. And the blessed man, though his bodily strength was exhausted, yet being strengthened by God, walked with those merciless soldiers, who by day led him without pity, and by night bound his feet to a tree; and so with difficulty he barely reached Smyrna, and was given over to an evil man and a teacher of heresy. By him he was shut up in a certain low and dark hut and remained there, looking only upon the one Master who sees all, having Him alone in those misfortunes for his comfort and Defender. And they shut up his disciple Nicholas with him also, and so the blessed servants of Christ suffered together. And soon again the aforesaid merciless Anastasius came from the emperor, and again laid a hundred wounds upon the venerable man and went away; and the venerable man endured all this with thanksgiving. At that time the emperor’s nephew and fellow-minded man was governor there, in the country of Smyrna; and he fell into a fierce and incurable disease and was at his last breath. And one of the servants, who belonged to the Orthodox, mentioned to the sick man the venerable Theodore, who had grace from God to heal all manner of diseases. And he then sent to the venerable man, asking that he would pray to God for him and deliver him from the death that was approaching.
The Icon of the Mother of God, the Apostasy, and the Death of the Sinner
And the venerable man said to the messengers: “Tell him who sent you: thus says Theodore — know that you will have to answer in the day of your departure. So evilly have you lived, and so much evil have you done to the Orthodox; for besides your many other evils you have added this, that you have also afflicted my monks with innumerable troubles, and by torments you have killed the great Thaddeus, great in virtues. He now rejoices with the saints, but who will deliver you from eternal torment? Yet at least at your end repent of your evil deeds.” And the messengers went and told all the words of Theodore to the sick governor, and he was greatly frightened, thinking of all the evil he had done, and sent again to the venerable man, asking forgiveness, and promised to accept the Orthodox faith if he would raise him from the bed of sickness by his prayers. And the venerable man sent him an icon of the Most Pure Mother of God, commanding him to keep it honourably with him throughout all his life. And the governor received that holy icon, and with it received relief also from his diseases, and began to return to health. But soon he returned to his former heresy, by the counsel of the bishop of Smyrna, who was a heretic; and from him he received oil for a blessing, and anointed himself with it, hoping to gain greater health. And after the anointing his former disease returned to him. And the venerable man, learning of this, foretold a cruel death to the sinner, which also came to pass soon, for he cast out his soul evilly. And the venerable Theodore suffered in confinement: a year and a half and more he endured bonds in Smyrna. After this the impious emperor Leo the Armenian also died evilly — he was killed by his own soldiers — and after him Michael, called the Stammerer, also Balbus, received the kingdom; and he, though heretical, did not persecute the Orthodox, but left each to believe as he wished. He therefore released the fathers and confessors of Orthodoxy from their bonds, and they were let go from prisons and exile. Then the venerable Theodore also received relief from his sufferings.
The Release, the Return, and Chalcedon
And certain of his old disciples came to him; among them was Dorotheus, who had acquired virtuousness from his childhood, and Bessarion, and James, Domitian, and Timothy also, and many others — they all had an honourable life, and a warm and unchanging love for the father Theodore. And a command came from the emperor to Smyrna, that Theodore also, like the others, should be released to his home. And the disciples took their father and returned with him, rejoicing. And the blessed man endured in prisons almost seven years, and before this, under Constantine the grandson of Copronymus, he served five years in bonds at Thessalonica. And as the blessed man returned from prison, everywhere the Orthodox met him with joy and tried to receive him into their house, that they might be counted worthy of his blessing and prayer and take delight in his sweet teachings. And the whole Church rejoiced at Theodore’s return, and all honoured him, because he had suffered so much for the honoured icons and established all by his teachings. And returning, the venerable man came to Chalcedon to see the blessed Theoctistus the monk, who had long been honoured with the rank of magister, and having been comforted with him by spiritual converse, went to visit the most holy Patriarch Nicephorus, his fellow-sufferer, who had been imprisoned by the impious emperor Leo the Armenian. And he was received by the patriarch courteously, for the patriarch rejoiced greatly at the coming of the venerable man, and comforted his former sorrow at their parting by his present coming. And they took sufficient delight in spiritual converse with one another, and the venerable man went to the places of Chrysentiopolis, and there by his coming gladdened many and brought them profit. And from there he returned again to the patriarch, and went with him and other bishops to the emperor, to persuade him to accept Orthodoxy. But he was unreasonable and untaught in the words of God; he gave no heed to what was said by those holy fathers, and said only this to them: “I do not forbid you to do what you wish, only I do not allow icons to be set up in the imperial city; but in other places, where anyone wishes, let him set them up in his own house, for I do not wish to bow to icons.” And when he had said this foolishly, the fathers withdrew from Byzantium, and the venerable Theodore settled with his disciples in the places of Chrysentiopolis.
Chrysentiopolis, Akrit, and the Last Illness
Soon wars began against the Greeks from a certain Thomas, who wished to seize the imperial authority for himself. The saint was forced to enter again with his brotherhood into Constantinople; and when the wars ceased, he withdrew from there again, not wishing to live among a people corrupted by the heresy of iconoclasm. Therefore he went out of Constantinople, but did not go to the places of Chrysentiopolis, but settled in the Chersonesus of Akrit, where there was a church of St. Tryphon, and there with his disciples led a God-pleasing monastic life in labours. And having lived a little with his dear friends, he drew near to his blessed end, being sixty-seven years of age from his birth. Before his departure he fell into a grievous illness in the month of November, and was very sick in his stomach. And the news spread everywhere that the blessed Theodore was ill and already at the point of death. Then one might see many coming to him: some from the imperial city, others from other surrounding cities; hierarchs and elders of many monasteries, and monks, gathered diligently, either to hear the discourses of the venerable man and take delight in his last words, or at least to see him as he departed to God. If only they could come near to him, they hoped to receive great profit from it — for this wondrous man was sweet in word, most wise in mind, and adorned with everything: gentle in temper, submissive, not irascible, humble, and full of all virtues. Though the blessed man lay on his bed and was greatly weakened, yet he discoursed profitably for his disciples so far as he could. Those who stood near him heard little of that discourse, for his tongue dried up from the fire of the illness. Therefore one of the shorthand writers sat close by, and listened, and wrote down what he said. Therefore let all who wish to learn study the book of the blessed man and read it for their profit.
The Liturgy on the 6th of November, and the Last Teaching
And when the venerable man discoursed, he began to feel easier, and his pains left him, and rising up on his feet he began to walk. And he went into the church on a Sunday, celebrated the Divine Liturgy, and gave a word of instruction to the brotherhood, and took a meal with them. And also in the morning, on the sixth day of November, on the memory of him who is among the saints, our father Paul the Confessor, he performed the divine mysteries in the church and instructed the brotherhood, and was at the evening singing of that day. But going into his cell, he lay on the bed and began again to be very ill. He was ill four days, and on the fifth day came the end of his pains and the beginning of the painless life. And as the venerable man drew near to his departure, a multitude of the brotherhood gathered to him and wept for him, as for their father and teacher. And he looked at them, shed a few tears, and said: “This, fathers and brothers, is the end of my life, for we must all drink this common cup — some sooner, others after waiting, yet all alike shall not pass by that hour. But I am departing by the way by which our fathers departed, to where life is eternal, and above all, where God and the Lord is, whom my soul has loved. For Him I have desired with all my heart, and Him I have called my Master, though I have not accomplished the work. But you, brothers and beloved children, abide in my words, which I have delivered to you, keeping the true faith and a virtuous life. Know that I did not cease to declare to you the word of God, both in the assembly and in private. And now I earnestly beg you: keep this in your minds and preserve it. I have care for you, therefore I wish to render an account; therefore you also take care to depart hence without blame. And I, if I find boldness before the Lord, promise to pray for you, that your monastery may always be led to the better, and that each of you may attain to greater things in the virtues, having the help of God.”
His Repose, and the Vision of the Blessed Hilarion
This the venerable man prophesied, and gave the last kiss and farewell to all, and commanded his disciples to take candles in their hands and to begin the song of departure. And the disciples, standing around, sang: “Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.” And as they sang, they uttered these words: “I will never forget Your commandments, for by them You have quickened me…” And the venerable Theodore, together with those words, gave up his holy soul, which the angels of God received and carried to the throne of the Master — which became known from the true testimony of the venerable Hilarion of Dalmatia. For on the day when the blessed Theodore died, that is, on the eleventh day of the month of November, on the memory of the holy martyr Menas, walking in the garden, and working, and singing the psalms of David, he heard certain wondrous voices and received an inexpressible fragrance. And he marvelled and stood, looking about: where did this come from? And looking up into the air, he saw a great multitude of ranks in white garments, which shone with bright faces and came down from heaven with songs, to meet a certain honoured person. And seeing this, the blessed Hilarion fell to the ground with great terror, and heard someone say to him: “This is the soul of Theodore, abbot of the Monastery of Studios, who for the holy icons suffered much even to blood, and endured to the end in tribulations. But now, at rest and triumphing, he goes up on high to the heavenly powers that meet him.” And the blessed Hilarion told that vision to other virtuous fathers also, and named the day and the hour when the vision was, and by the time they learned that then the praiseworthy Theodore the Studite had departed and passed from earth to heaven.
Wonders: Leo, the Bride, and the Lynx
Many wonders our venerable father Theodore wrought both in his life and after his departure; of them we will mention a few for profit. A certain Leo, who entertained travellers, received the venerable Theodore into his house when he was coming from prison. And soon that Leo brought a bride for his son as a wife, and they were to be married. And suddenly the bride fell into a fierce illness and lay in a fever, so that all doubted whether she would live. And Leo sent to the venerable man, informing him of what had happened and begging that he would help them with his prayers. And the venerable man blessed oil and sent it to Leo, commanding him to anoint the sick woman with it. And when they did this, then the bride rose up in health, as though she had never been ill. The same Leo once set out himself on a necessary journey to a distant village, and met on the road a beast, a lynx, which, seeing Leo, rushed at him, wishing to make food of him. And Leo called loudly upon the name of the venerable father Theodore, and then the beast, hearing the name of the saint, stopped and cowered, turned from the road and ran away. And Leo remained unharmed by the beast and went on his way. A certain woman who suffered from an unclean spirit was brought to the venerable man. And the spirit that tormented her was so fierce that she tore and ate her own flesh, feeling no pain. And the venerable man, seeing her suffering, was moved with compassion for her, and made the sign of the Cross with his hand upon her head, and read over her a prayer of exorcism. And then the unclean spirit came out of her and fled, driven out by the prayer of the venerable man.
The Letter Thrown into the Fire, and the Rain on the Hay
A second woman, of the nobles, told the blessed Sophronius the abbot the following, after the death of the venerable Theodore. “There was,” she said, “a fire once in my house, which the fire surrounded on all sides; everything in it burned with a roar, and it was impossible to overcome the great flame either by pouring water on it or by any other means. And I was in very great sorrow and grief, and did not know what to do. I remembered a letter of the venerable Theodore, which I had, which the venerable man had written to me shortly before. And the thought came to me to throw it into the fire. Perhaps the fire would be ashamed of the writing traced by his holy hand, and would diminish its flame a little. And I did as I had resolved: I threw that letter onto the great fire and said this: ‘Holy Theodore, help me, who am your handmaid, in my trouble.’ And in that instant I saw that fierce fiery force weakened and extinguished, and it curled up in smoke.” So powerful is the invocation of the name of that servant of God. The aforesaid Sophronius told a similar thing. “I was going,” he said, “once into Paphlagonia with the blessed Nicholas, the imitator and fellow-sufferer of the great Theodore. And as we went along the road, evening came. We rested in a certain field, where much mown hay lay. And there were certain soldiers there also, who were going along the road and who, because of the late hour, stopped in that same field and lit a fire, preparing supper for themselves. Later in the night that fire crept up, and there was a great conflagration, which consumed all the hay. Then the soldiers woke and all rushed upon us, thinking that we had set it alight, and wished to lay hands on us and torment us. And we, not knowing what to do, called upon the great Theodore for help, saying: ‘Venerable father, help us and deliver us by your prayers from the trouble unjustly brought upon us.’ And when we had said this, suddenly a great rain fell from heaven and utterly extinguished all the fiery burning. And the soldiers, seeing that wonder, were humbled and fell down before us, asking forgiveness.”
The Man from Sardis, and the Punishment for Despising His Writings
On the island of Sardis there was a certain virtuous man, who had in his keeping the written discourses and teachings of the venerable Theodore — these he read diligently. And he loved also the hymns which that father composed for Great Lent, which are called triodes, or three-ode canons. And there came to that man certain heretical monks, passing along the road, and they lived with him during Great Lent. And seeing the hymns and discourses composed by the venerable Theodore, they began to revile them, saying that they were composed unreasonably and were full of folly. And that man who entertained them was led astray by their talk, and after that no longer read the profitable discourses of the venerable man, and did not sing his triodes at the morning singing, as he had been accustomed to sing before. And he became so dissolute that one night the venerable father Theodore appeared to him, small in stature, as though alive, pale of face, bald of head; and behind him other monks walked, holding rods in their hands — with these he commanded them to beat that seduced man. And as they beat him, the father said: “Why have you in your unbelief rejected my writings, which you formerly loved and honoured? Why did you not consider that if the Church of God had not seen profit in them, she would not have accepted them; and they are not composed in contrived false eloquence nor through ornateness, but in everything have sound and humble words, which can move the heart and delight the soul. For they are sweet and profitable to those who truly wish to be saved.” And having so chastised the dissolute man, he departed. And when day came, that man, lying on his bed, had a body full of bruises from the beating, which he showed to all, telling how he had been punished. And then he drove away the monks who had seduced him, with dishonour, from his house, as the causes of his sin and of such a punishment; and towards the venerable Theodore he had from then on more faith than before, and lovingly read the writings and hymns composed by him, begging him to forgive his former sins.
Healings from His Tomb
And from the tomb of the venerable Theodore many healings were granted. A certain demon-possessed man came to his tomb, and the venerable man appeared to him in a vision of the night and, granting him healing, made him whole. And that man awoke, and felt himself delivered from the enemy’s torment, and glorified God and His servant, the venerable Theodore. And another had eaten poisoned food, and all his inward parts were seized by the disease, and he was already drawing near to death; and he took of the oil that was in the lamp at the tomb of the venerable man, and poured it into his mouth, and then vomited up that deadly poison and found health, and everything else remained unharmed. And another was very sick in his stomach, and only looked upon the icon of the venerable man and called upon his name, and immediately became well. And another, seized by terror, was out of his mind, and feared and was terrified of all. This man was brought to the tomb of the venerable man, and was anointed with oil, and then was delivered from that affliction, and having a whole mind, gave thanks to God and to His servant. And many other wonders were wrought at his tomb by the prayers of the venerable Theodore, to the glory of God, one in Trinity, to whom from us let honour and worship be now, and always, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
On the Same Day: St. Maximus, Fool for Christ’s Sake
On that same day, the death of the holy and blessed Maximus, fool for Christ’s sake, the wonderworker of Moscow.