Sainted Theodore (Feodor), Archbishop of Rostov
Commemorated on November 28
Sainted Theodore
(Feodor), Archbishop of Rostov, in the world John, was the son of Stefan
(brother by birth of the Monk Sergei of Radonezh), who occupied an important
post under the Radonezh prince Andrei Ioannovich. Left a widower, Stefan
accepted monasticism, and together with his 12 year old son, he went to the
monastery to the Monk Sergei, who foreseeing the ascetic life of the lad John,
tonsured him with the name Theodore (Feodor) – on the day of memory of the
Monk Theodore of the Hairshirt (20 April). And after Theodore's attaining of an
appropriate age, he was given blessing for the priestly dignity. Through the
blessing of the Monk Sergei, – on the banks of the River Moskva, at the
place called Simonovo, – Saint Theodore built a church in honour of the
Nativity of the Most Holy Mother of God and founded a monastery. Soon the
monastery began to attract a throng of people, and Saint Theodore, having built
a cell five versts from the Moscow Kremlin, began ascetically to pursue new
tasks. And here disciples gathered around him. The Monk Sergei, visiting this
place, blessed the founding of a monastery, and Metropolitan Aleksei blessed
the construction of a church in the name of the Uspenie-Dormition of the
Most Holy Mother of God at Novoe Simonovo, which also had its foundations laid
in 1379. The old Simonov monastery remained the burial place of monks.
By his virtuous life
and strict asceticism, Saint Theodore became known of in Moscow. The
metropolitan Saint Aleksei elevated him to the dignity of hegumen, and
Greatprince Dimitrii Donskoy chose him as his father confessor. Saint Theodore
several times journeyed to Constantinople on matters for the Russian
metropolitan. On his first journey, in 1384, he received from Patriarch Nilos
the dignity of archimandrite, and the Simonov monastery was put under the
Patriarch, thus stavropygial; in 1387 he was ordained archbishop and occupied
the Rostov cathedra-seat.
Being the hegumen and
then the archimandrite of the Simonov monastery, and despite being occupied
with general churchly matters, Saint Theodore unremittingly guided monastic
life and raised up among his disciples many great and famous ascetics. At the
Simonov monastery were tonsured the monks Kirill and Pherapont – the future
founders of two famous Belozersk monasteries – the Kirillov and the
Pherapontov. It is known also, that Saint Theodore occupied himself with
iconography, and he adorned with icons of his own writing both the Simonov
monastery, and many a Moscow church.
At Rostov, Archbishop
Theodore founded the Nativity of the Virgin monastery.
The blessed death of
the saint occurred on 28 November 1394. His relics are situated in the Rostov
Uspenie-Dormition cathedral.
© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.
