Sainted Theodore, Bishop of Edessa
Commemorated on July 9
Sainted Theodore,
Bishop of Edessa, was born in the Syrian city of Edessa. All his life the
holy saint was a bright witness of the great deeds of God, glorified in His
Saints.
At twelve years of
age, having lost his parents and given away his inheritance to the poor, he set
out to Jerusalem, where at the Laura of the Monk Sava the Sanctified he took
monastic tonsure. After 12 years of fervent monastic obedience and then another
24 years of full seclusion and great abstinence the Lord summoned the valiant
ascetic to be bishop, so that he might bring light to the world. For after the
death of the Edessa bishop, no more worthy a successor was found than Theodore,
and through the mutual assent of the Antioch and Jerusalem Patriarchs, and
likewise of both clergy and laity, this fine man was chosen bishop. It was not
easy for Saint Theodore to forsake his quietude, but he submitted himself to
the will of God and entered into the guidance of the Edessa Church. This occurred
during the reign of the Greek emperor Michael and his mother Theodora
(842-855). During the time of the episcopal imposition of hands over the Monk
Theodore, there occurred a great miracle. The people beheld a dove white like
snow, soaring about beneathe the cupola of the church, which then came down
upon the head of the newly-made bishop. Setting about the governance of his
flock, Saint Theodore devoted all his abilities to this service. He was a model
for the faithful in word, in life, in love, and by the good example of his holy
ascetic life he guided the flock, entrusted to him by God, onto the path of
salvation. Theodore exerted much effort in the struggle with heretics, and with
a firm hand he guarded the Church from temptations and errant thought. By his
consolation and support for Saint Theodore, the perspicacious elder and
pillar-dweller the Monk Theodosios likewise served the spiritual community,
while asceticising not far from the city near the monastery of the holy
GreatMartyr George.
With the blessing of
the elder, Saint Theodore undertook a journey to Baghdad to the caliph Mavi
with a complaint about unjust measures against the Orthodox. Having come to
Mavi, the saint found him seriously ill. Calling on the help of the Lord, the
holy bishop threw into a vessel with water a bit of earth from the Sepulchre of
the Lord and gave it to the caliph to drink, and the sick one was healed. The
grateful Mavi, favourably disposed towards the saint, happily heard out his
teachings and finally, together with three close associates he accepted holy
Baptism with the name John.
Shortly afterwards
for his open confession of faith in Christ before the Mussulmans, the caliph
John was killed with his three close associates. Having appeared in a dream
simultaneously to Saint Theodore and to the Pillar-Dweller Theodosios, he
reported that he had been granted to suffer for Christ, being numbered among
the rank of the Martyrs, and he would soon meet the two of them in the Kingdom
of Heaven. This was an indication to the saint of God, that his own end was
approaching. Three years later, again in solitude at the Laura of Saint Sava
the Sanctified, he peacefully expired to the Lord (IX). Saint Theodore has left
to Christians his writings of edification. The Life of Saint Theodore of Edessa
was a beloved reading in Rus' during the XVI-XVII Centuries and was preserved
in many a manuscript.
© 1996-2001 by translator Fr. S. Janos.