St
Theodore the Sykeote the Bishop of Anastasiopolis
Św.
Teodor Sykeota, biskup Anastasiopolis
Saint Théodore
Confesseur (+ 613)
Il vit le jour à la suite
de l'union d'un courrier impérial avec une prostituée du village de Sykéon en
Galatie. La présence de son enfant la transforma et elle mena une vie plus
honorable. Lorsqu'il eut six ans, elle projeta de le faire entrer au service de
l'empereur Justinien, mais, après avoir prié saint
Georges le Grand martyr, elle le garda près de lui. A quinze ans,
saint Théodore voulut vivre reclus proche de la chapelle de saint Georges. Il
fit un pèlerinage à Jérusalem, reçut l'habit monastique au monastère de Choziba
et revint au pays. Il commença alors une vie d'extrêmes austérités. Par
exemple, durant le Grand Carême, il se faisait enfermer dans une étroite cage
de fer, chargé d'une cuirasse et une lourde croix au cou. Il se fixa les mains
et les pieds avec des anneaux qu'il garda jusqu'à sa mort. Les foules venaient
au monastère et il fit construire une vaste église pour les recevoir. Nommé de
force évêque d'Ancyre (actuelle Ankara), il voulut quitter cette charge, s'en
jugeant indigne. Invité à Constantinople par deux fois auprès du patriarche, il
mourut confiant dans le Seigneur après les offices du dimanche du Renouveau. On
ne put lui enlever les fers et on les lui laissa quand il fut revêtu de ses
habits épiscopaux pour être conduit à sa dernière demeure terrestre. Il fut
l'un des grands propagateurs du culte de saint Georges dont il avait reçu les
bienfaits durant toute sa vie monastique.
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/6644/Saint-Theodore.html
Saint Théodore le Sykeote est
né dans le milieu du VIe siècle dans le
village de Sykeon, non loin de la ville
d'Anastasiopolis (En Galatie, en Asie Mineure), dans une
famille pieuse. Lorsque sa mère Maria a conçu
le saint, elle a eu une vision d'une étoile
brillante éclipsant son sein. Un aîné clairvoyant,
qu'elle a consulté, a expliqué que c'était la grâce de
Dieu est répandu sur l'enfant dans son ventre.
Lorsque le garçon atteint l'âge de six
ans, sa mère lui a présenté une ceinture
d'or, car elle avait l'intention que son fils devrait
devenir un soldat. Cette nuit-là le Saint Grand
Martyr George (23 Avril) lui apparut en
songe, et il lui a dit de ne pas considérer le
service militaire de son fils, parce que le garçon était
destiné à servir Dieu. Le père du saint, Cosmas, avait
servi de messager de l'empereur Justinien le
Grand (527-565), et il est mort à un âge précoce. Le
garçon est resté sous la garde de sa mère, et sa
grand-mère Elpis, sa tante Dispenia et sa petite
sœur Vlatta aussi vécu avec eux.
À l'école, saint Théodore preuve
d'une grande AppTitude dans ses études, dont le principal
était une capacité rare de raisonnement et
de sagesse. Il était calme, doux, il a toujours
su calmer ses camarades, et il ne permettait pas
aux combats ou des querelles entre eux.
Le pieux ancien Etienne a
également vécu dans la maison de sa mère. En
l'imitant, Saint-Théodore à l'âge de huit a commencé
à manger seulement un petit morceau de pain dans la soirée,
durant le Grand Carême. Alors que sa mère ne doit
pas le forcer à prendre le souper avec tout le
monde, le garçon revint de l'école que vers le
soir, après avoir mangé des saints mystères avec
frère Stephen. A la demande de sa mère, l'enseignant a
commencé à le renvoyer chez lui pour souper à la fin
de ses leçons. St Théodore, cependant, courut
à l'église du grand martyr Georges, où le saint lui
apparut sous la forme d'un jeune homme, et le fit
entrer dans l'église.
Lorsque saint Théodore eu dix
ans, il est tombé gravement malade. Ils l'ont amené
à l'église de Saint-Jean-Baptiste et l'ont placé en
face de l'autel. Le garçon a été guéri par deux
gouttes d'eau qui tombaient de la face du Sauveur dans le
dôme du temple. A cette époque, le grand
martyr George a commencé à apparaître à l'enfant pendant la
nuit, et lui a également conduit à son propre temple pour
prier jusqu'au matin. Sa mère, craignant les dangers de la
forêt dans la nuit, a exhorté son fils de ne pas sortir le
soir.
Une fois, quand le
garçon était déjà parti, elle en colère l'a suivi à
l'église, et elle l'a traîné par les
cheveux et l'a attaché à son lit. Mais cette
nuit-là le grand martyr George lui apparut en
songe, et lui ordonna de ne pas
entraver l'enfant d'aller à l'église. Les
deux Elpis et Dispenia avaient la même vision. Les femmes ont
alors compris vocation particulière de saint Théodore, et
ils l'empêchèrent pas de plus. Même sa petite
sœur Vlatta a commencé à l'imiter.
A douze ans, le saint avait
un rêve dans lequel il voyait le Christ surle trône de
gloire, qui lui dit: "Lutte, Théodore, de sorte
que vous pouvez obtenir une récompense parfaite dans le
Royaume des Cieux."
A partir de
ce moment, saint Théodore a commencé à intensifier ses
travaux. Il a passé la Première Semaine du Grand
Carême et la Semaine de la vénération de la Croix dans
un silence complet.
Le diable a examiné comment le
faire périr. Il est apparu au saint dans la forme de
sa camarade de classe Géronte, et lui a
demandé de sauter un précipice, mais le grand
martyr George sauvé le garçon.
Une autre fois, le garçon
est allé dans le désert pour obtenir la bénédiction de
la Glycerius Elder. Puis il ya eu une terrible
sécheresse dans tout le pays, et l'aîné dit: «Mon
enfant, prions le Seigneur à genoux, lui demandant
d'envoyer la pluie. Ensuite, nous apprenons que nos
prières sont agréables au Seigneur. "Le vieil homme et
le garçon a commencé à prier, et immédiatement il a
commencé à pleuvoir. Puis l'Ancien dit saint
Théodore, que la grâce de Dieu était sur lui, et il le
bénit pour devenir moine, le moment venu.
Quand il avait quatorze
ans, saint Théodore a quitté la maison et a vécu près de
l'église du grand martyr Georges. Sa
mère lui apportait de la nourriture, mais saint
Théodore a tout laissé sur les pierres de l'église, et
il en mangea une seule prosphore chaque jour. Même à
un si jeune âge, saint Théodore a reçu le don de
guérison. Grâce à ses prières un jeune démoniaque a
été restauré à la santé.
St Théodore alors
fui la gloire humaine et il se retira dans une solitude
complète. Sous un gros rocher non loin de l'église de
Saint-Georges, il a creusé une grotte et a convaincu
un certain diacre pour recouvrir l'entrée avec de la
terre, ne laissant qu'une petite ouverture pour l'air. Le
diacre lui apportaient du pain et de l'eau et il a
parlé à personne, où le moine s'était caché.
Pendant deux ans, saint
Théodore a vécu dans cette solitude et le
calme complet. Ses parents ont pleuré pour le
saint, pensant qu'il avait été dévoré par les bêtes sauvages.
Le diacre a finalement révélé le
secret, car il avait peur que saint Théodore périrait dans
la grotte étroite, et en outre,
il plaignait la mère éplorée. Ils ont
pris St Théodore de la grotte à peine vivant.
La mère a voulu
prendre son fils à la maison et le soigner à la
santé, mais le saint est resté près de l'église de
Saint-Georges, et après quelques jours, il était tout
à fait bien.
Nouvelles des exploits
de la jeunesse atteint l'évêque Théodose locale, qui a
ordonné au diaconat, et plus tard à la sainte
prêtrise, bien que le saint était âgé de seulement
dix-sept ans à l'époque.
Après un certain tandis
que saint Théodore a pour vénérer les lieux saints de
Jérusalem, et il y en Cozéba Lavra près
de Jordanie, il a reçu la tonsure monastique.
Quand il est retourné dans son pays
natal, il a de nouveau continué à vivre près de
l'église St George. Sa grand-mère Elpis, sa
sœur et sa mère Vlatta entrés dans un monastère
de femmes sur les conseils du saint, et sa tante sont
morts dans une bonne confession.
La vie ascétique de
la jeune hiéromoine attiré à lui les
gens qui cherchent le salut. Le saint tonsuré les
jeunes Epiphane, et plus tard sur une femme
pieuse, guéri par le saint de sa maladie, lui a
amené son fils Philoumenus. Alors le
jeune vertueux John est également venu
à lui. Ainsi frères progressivement réunis autour
du moine.
St Théodore a
continué dans ses travaux difficiles. A sa demande, un
forgeron lui fait une cage de fer sans
toit, et si étroit qu'il n'était guère possible de se
tenir debout. Dans cette cage, le moine se tenait dans les
chaînes lourdes de la Sainte Pâque jusqu'à la Nativité
du Christ. De Baptême du Seigneur, jusqu'à
ce Saint Pascha il s'enfermait dans sa
caverne, dont il est sorti seulement pour les services
religieux les samedis et dimanches. Tout au long des
quarante jours de jeûne du saint ne mangeait que du
pain et des légumes verts, les samedis et dimanches.
Vivre de manière, il a
reçu du Seigneur le pouvoir sur les animaux sauvages. Les
ours et les loups se sont approchés de lui et ont pris la
nourriture de sa main. Grâce aux prières du saint, les
personnes atteintes de la lèpre ont été guéris, et les
démons ont été chassés des quartiers entiers. Dans le
village voisin de Magatia, quand les
criquets menacent les cultures, les gens se sont tournés
vers St Théodore de l'aide. Il les a envoyés à
l'église. Après Divine Liturgie, dont il a été, les
villageois sont rentrés chez eux et ont appris que pendant
le service tous les sauterelles étaient morts.
Lorsque le commandant
militaire ile Maurice revenait à Constantinople par le
biais de la Galatie après une guerre de Perse, le
moine prédit qu'il deviendrait empereur. La
prédiction s'est réalisée, et l'empereur ile
Maurice (582-602) rempli la demande du saint: il a
envoyé du pain au monastère chaque année pour la
multitude de personnes qui y nourris.
Le petit
temple de St George ne pouvait pas
accueillir tous ceux qui voulaient y
prier. Ensuite, grâce aux efforts du saint une
belle nouvelle église a été construite. Pendant ce temps l'évêque
de Anastasiopolis venait à mourir. Les habitants de la
ville ont
demandé Metropolitan Paul d'Ancyre installer St Théodore comme leur
évêque.
Alors que le saint ne
résisterait pas, les messagers de la région
métropolitaine et les gens de Anastasiopolis le
traînèrent hors de sa cellule par la force et l'ont
transporté dans la ville.
Comme évêque, saint
Théodore travaillait beaucoup pour le bien de
l'Eglise, mais son âme aspirait à la
communion solitaire avec Dieu. Après plusieurs années,
il est allé à vénérer les lieux saints de Jérusalem. Et
là, cachant son identité, il s'installe à la laure de
Saint Sava, où il a vécu dans la solitude de la Nativité du
Christ jusqu'à Pâques. Puis le grand
martyr George l'a amené à revenir à Anastasiopolis.
Des ennemis
secrets essayé d'empoisonner le saint, mais la Mère de
Dieu lui a donné trois petits morceaux de céréales. Le
saint les mangea et est restée indemne. St Théodore se
sentait accablé par le fardeau d'être un évêque et il
a demandé le Patriarche de
Constantinople Cyriaque (595-606) pour une sortie de
retourner à son monastère et de célébrer
les services là-bas.
La sainteté de Théodore était
si évident que quand il a célébré l'Eucharistie, la
grâce de l'Esprit Saint est apparu comme une lumière
violette radieuse, éclipsé les saints dons. Une
fois, quand le saint a élevé le disque avec le
saint Agneau et proclamé "Les choses saintes sont pour
la sainte," le saint Agneau flottait dans
l'air, puis s'installe à nouveau sur le disque.
L'Eglise orthodoxe vénéré saint Théodore comme un
saint, même alors qu'il était encore en vie.
Dans l'une des villes de
la Galatie, un événement terrible s'est produit: lors d'une
procession de l'église des croix de
bois étant réalisées ont commencé à frapper les uns
les autres par eux-mêmes, avec le résultat que le
patriarche Thomas (607-610 21 Mars) convoqué St Théodore, lui
demandant la signification de ce
terrible présage. Ayant le don
de clairvoyance, St Théodore a expliqué que cette indiqué à
venir malheurs pour l'Église de Dieu (il a
été prophétiquement indiquant l'hérésie avenir
des iconoclastes). Dans sa douleur le saint
Patriarche Thomas pria le saint se vouer qu'il allait
bientôt mourir, de sorte qu'il ne serait pas assister à
la malheur à venir.
En
l'an 610 le saint Patriarche Thomas reposait, après
avoir demandé la bénédiction de saint
Théodore. St Théodore partit aussi au Seigneur.
SOURCE : http://cosaque.over-blog.net/article-fete-le-22-avril-saint-theodore-le-sykeote-l-eparque-d-anastasiopolis-124396491.html
St.
George monastry in Wadi Kelt, the West Bank,
Palestine
Palestine
- Monastère Saint Georges dans le désert de Judée, près de Jéricho
Il
monastero ortodosso di San Giorgio a Koziba (il monastero di Koziba)
Also
known as
Theodore of Sikion
Theodore the Sykeote
Theodore of Siceone
Teodoro il Siceota
Profile
Son of pagans named
Mary and Cosmas; his father was
an imperial messenger. Attracted to the ascetic life of the desert monks,
young Theodore studied the scriptures at
the nearby shrine of Saint George.
He converted to Christianity in
his teens,
and at age 14 he left home to take up the life of a monk. Ordained a priest at
age 18 with the support of Bishop Theodosius
of Anastasioupolis, Galatia. Archimandrite of
the monastery of
Sykeon. Reluctant bishop of
Anastasiopolis. He founded monasteries,
had the gift of healing,
was known as a miracle worker,
warded off a plague of insects by prayer,
and supported the cultus of Saint George.
Having served eleven years, and missing the monastic life,
he returned to the Sykeon monastery where
he spent the rest of his life as a prayerful monk.
Born
at Sykeon, Galatia
c.613 at
the monastery of
Sykeon of natural causes
relics enshrined in Constantinople
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Life
of Saint Theodore of Sykeon
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
images
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
strony
w jezyku polskim
MLA
Citation
“Saint Theodore of
Sykeon“. CatholicSaints.Info. 22 April 2022. Web. 26 April 2022.
<http://catholicsaints.info/saint-theodore-of-sykeon/>
SOURCE : http://catholicsaints.info/saint-theodore-of-sykeon/
Theodore of Sykeon
(Sikion) B (RM)
(also known as Theodore
of Sikion)
Born in Sykeon, Galatia,
Asia Minor; died April 22, 613. The beginning of Theodore's life was
infortuitous: He was the bastard child of a girl named Mary who, with her
sister, kept an inn at the village of Sykeon. They prostituted themselves to
their customers. His father was a circus artist, who specialized in acrobatic
camel- riding and had nothing to do with his son. Perhaps his mother was a
nominal Christian--she had her son baptized.
When Theodore was only
six, Mary wanted him to enter the service of the emperor. She prepared for him
a gold belt and expensive clothing to make him presentable at court. Then Saint
George appeared to her in a dream and she abandoned this plan. Instead she
arranged for Theodore's education with a local teacher.
About this time, the inn
was transformed by the arrival of an elderly man, named Stephen, whose cooking
transformed the inn into a place renowned for its cuisine. Thus, the women were
able to forego prostitution as an additional source of income. Even as a child,
Theodore showed a propensity for holiness, which was encouraged by Stephen and
heightened following his recovery from a near fatal attack of the bubonic
plague. Theodore would skip dinner, depriving himself of nourishment, in order
to spend the time in church praying at the shrine of Saint George. He would
shut himself up in the cellar or in a cave under a disused chapel at Arkea,
about eight miles from home. Later his mother married a prominent businessman
of Ankara and left him with his grandmother and aunt, whom as a young man he
converted to better ways.
Theodore himself became a
monk when on a visit to Jerusalem. Reputedly at the age of 18, he was ordained
to the priesthood by his own bishop. Theodore exercised considerable influence,
perhaps because of the gifts of prophecy and miracles bestowed on him by God.
It is said that he grew suspicious of a finely wrought chalice that turned out
to have been made from a prostitute's chamber pot. As a priest-monk he led an
austere life: He lived on vegetables, fasted frequently, and wore an iron
girdle. When he settled in Mossyna, he helped in the treatment of girls
believed to be troubled by unclean spirits.
Strangely, it is recorded
that he requested that he be placed in a wooden cage from Christmas to Palm
Sunday. Later, he moved into an iron cage suspended on the face of the rock in
mid-air above his cave. As a penance he wore an iron breastplate (perhaps in
remembrance of his favorite Saint George?) and iron rings for his hands and
feet and an iron collar and belt. As is recorded of many Irish saints and
desert Fathers, Saint Theodore is said to have been familiar with wild
animals--even bears and wolves.
He founded monasteries in
his own country and governed the one in his native town, although he frequently
retired to a remote and secluded cell because his hermitage, transformed by
many visitors seeking his counsel and disciples, had become a complex of
buildings including a large church, monastery, and guest house.
In spite of his strong
objection, about 590, Theodore was elected bishop of Anastasiopolis, not far
from Turkey's capital of Ankara, and consecrated by Archbishop Paul of Ankara.
His episcopate was marked by a long series of miracles. An African monk,
Antiochus, who came to see Theodore on behalf of a town pillaged by barbarians
describes the saint: "He had eyebrows that met each other . . . was about
a hundred years old, the hair of his head was as white as wool and hung down to
his loins; so too did his beard, and his nails were very long. It was about
sixty years since he had touched wine or oil, thirty since he had tasted bread.
His food was uncooked vegetables with salt and vinegar; his drink water."
Theodore helped Antiochus with his mission and consulted him about the
possibility of resigning his episcopate.
Theodore wanted to resign
because competing demands on his time-- governing his abbey and diocese--left
too little time for prayer. Often his prayers were interrupted to settle
disputes or deal with administrative details. The final straw was civil unrest in
the villages that belonged to the Church and were entrusted to laymen who
oppressed the villagers. Theodore was accused by one of them, Theodosius, with
instigating the peasants to revolt. Theodosius finally kicked away the chair on
which the bishop was sitting and knocked him on his back.
After 10 years Theodore
resigned this office and retired to Saint Michael at Acrena (Akreina) near
Pidrum (Tchardak) and Heliopolis. He visited his patron Emperor Maurice at
Constantinople and healing one of the princes of a skin disease (leprosy or
elephantiasis?). The emperor and empress invited him to their table. There it
was decided that all the monasteries should have the power of sanctuary and
that the appointment of abbots should be in the jurisdiction of the patriarch
rather than the local bishops. Returning to his oratory, he lived as a monk
again and continued to work miracles until his death at Sykeon. He was also a
great promoter of the cultus of Saint George.
A long vita of Saint
Theodore was written by one of his disciples; it is mostly a record of healings
of the sick and the possessed and other marvels attributed to this holy man,
and of anecdotes illustrating the virtues of his character. He seems to have
become a physician and had the gift of reconciling married couples which led to
barren wives having children. It does, however, provide a lively picture of
life in Asia Minor just before the Arab occupation. Theodore's relics were
translated to Constantinople (Attwater, Benedictines, Dawes, Farmer, Walsh).
Source : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0422.shtml
April 22
St. Theodorus of Siceon,
Bishop and Confessor
HE was a native of Siceon in Galatia, and from his infancy so much given to prayer, that, when at school, he often deprived himself of his dinner, to spend the time allowed for it in the church. All his leisure hours he consecrated to the exercises of prayer and pious reading. He very early shut himself up in a cell in the house of his mother, afterwards in a cave under a retired chapel; and flying at length from thence, to avoid applause, lived on a desert mountain. He was ordained priest by the bishop of Anastasiopolis, and near an ancient chapel built in honour of St. George, to which holy martyr he was exceedingly devoted; he founded a great monastery. In a second pilgrimage to Jerusalem, like another Elias, he, by his prayers, obtained rain from heaven in a great drought in Palestine. He formed many eminent disciples, and built a large monastery at Siceon, which town was situated in the diocess of Anastasiopolis; but still made his chief abode in a little remote cell. Count Mauritius, general of the armies of the Emperor Tiberius, when he returned triumphant from Persia, paid a visit to this saint, who foretold him the empire, by a revelation which he had received through the merits of St. George the martyr. Mauritius being advanced to the imperial throne, in 582, sent to recommend himself and his empire to the prayers of this humble servant of God. Theodorus was, by main force, consecrated bishop of Anastasiopolis, and having held that see ten years, he obtained an order from Cyriacus, patriarch of Constantinople, and the Emperor Mauritius, to the archbishop of Ancyra, his metropolitan, to accept his resignation, which he had till then refused. Theodorus returned with joy to Siceon, but was called to Constantinople to give his blessing to the emperor and senate. He healed one of the emperor’s sons, afflicted with a leprosy. And being returned to his solitude at Siceon, he died there, in 613, on the 22nd of April, on which day his name occurs in the Roman Martyrology. See his life compiled by his disciple, George Eleusius, with the notes of Henschenius, t. 3, Apr. p. 32.
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume IV: April. The Lives of the Saints. 1866
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/4/225.html
St. Theodore of Sykeon
April 22
Today we travel to 7th century Asia Minor to meet another unusual and obscure saint. Theodore was born at Sykeon in Asia Minor in the middle of the 6th century. His unmarried mother, Mary, lived the life of a prostitute and innkeeper. His father is listed as Cosmas, a messenger of the royal court. According to his biography, which was written by a contemporary, Theodore was a very prayerful child. At school he would often give up his lunch so as to spend the time in a local church in prayer.
Despite the objections of his mother, he left home at fourteen and lived the life of an ascetic. His holiness and simplicity came to the attention of Bishop Theodosius of Anastasioupolis, who ordained him a lector, then a deacon. At the age of eighteen, Theodore was ordained to the priesthood, which although not common, was not without precedent. He spent the next several years living the life of an ascetic and drew many disciples by his simplicity, humility and austerity. He founded several monasteries to accommodate the many young men drawn to living a life dedicated to God.
He was abbot of the monastery at Sykeon and reports of his holiness and the many wonders, which occurred through his intercession, brought many to conversion of life. Theodore had a great devotion to St. George, who we will meet tomorrow. He reluctantly accepted the position of bishop of Anastasioupolis after the death of Thodosius and remained there for eleven years.
Theodore was never comfortable with the administrative duties and activities of the office of bishop and was finally able to obtain permission to retire to his monastery. He lived the remainder of his life in prayer and solitude except for a brief visit to Constantinople to bless the emperor and the senate. He died on April 22, 613.
We don't have a great
deal of historical data about the life of this saint, but the little we do know
shows a man who apparently listened to the call of God from the very beginning.
One might wonder how he could have come to know God considering his beginnings,
but as Scripture tells us, "...my ways are not your ways..." (Is
55:8). Theodore learned of God and heard His call and simply said "yes" for
the rest of his life.
© 1998 The Monastery of Christ in the Desert
SOURCE : http://www.christdesert.org/cgi-bin/martyrology.dynamic.5.cgi?name=theodore_of_sykeon
St Theodore the Sykeote
the Bishop of Anastasiopolis
Commemorated on April
22
Saint Theodore the
Sykeote was born in the mid-sixth century in the village of Sykeon, not far
from the city of Anastasiopolis (in Galatia, Asia Minor), into a pious family.
When his mother Maria conceived the saint, she had a vision of a bright star
overshadowing her womb. A clairvoyant Elder, whom she consulted, explained that
this was the grace of God being poured forth on the infant in her womb.
When the boy reached the
age of six, his mother presented him with a golden belt, since she intended that
her son should become a soldier. That night the Holy Great Martyr George (April
23) appeared to her in a dream, and he told her not to consider military
service for her son, because the boy was destined to serve God. The saint’s
father, Cosmas, had served as a messenger of the emperor Justinian the Great
(527-565), and he died at an early age. The boy remained in the care of his
mother, and his grandmother Elpis, his aunt Dispenia and his little sister
Vlatta also lived with them.
In school, St Theodore displayed
great apptitude in his studies, chief of which was an uncommon ability for
reasoning and wisdom. He
was quiet, mild, he always knew how to calm his comrades, and he did not permit
fights or quarrels among them.
The pious Elder Stephen
also lived at his mother’s house. Imitating him, St Theodore at the age of
eight began to eat only a small morsel of bread in the evening during Great
Lent. So that his mother should not force him to take supper with everyone, the
boy returned home from school only toward evening, after he had partaken of the
Holy Mysteries with Elder Stephen. At the request of his mother, the teacher
began to send him home to supper at the end of his lessons. St Theodore, however, ran to the church of the Great
Martyr George, where the saint appeared to him in the form of a youth, and
ushered him into the church.
When St Theodore turned
ten, he fell deathly ill. They brought him to the church of St John the Baptist
and placed him in front of the altar. The boy was healed by two drops of water
that fell from the face of the Savior in the dome of the temple. At this time
the Great Martyr George began appearing to the boy at night, and also leading
him to his own temple to pray until morning. His mother, fearing the dangers of the forest at
night, urged her son not to go at night.
Once, when the boy had
already gone, she angrily followed him to the church, and she dragged him out
by the hair and tied him to his bed. But that very night the Great Martyr
George appeared to her in a dream, and commanded her not to hinder the child
from going to church. Both Elpis and Dispenia had the same vision. The women
then understood St Theodore’s special calling, and they no longer hindered him.
Even his little sister Vlatta
began to imitate him.
At twelve years of age, the saint had a dream in which
he saw Christ on the Throne of Glory, Who said to him, “Struggle, Theodore, so
that you may obtain a perfect reward in the Kingdom of Heaven.”
From that time, St
Theodore began to intensify his labors. He spent both the First Week of Great Lent and the
Week of the Veneration of the Cross in complete silence.
The devil considered how
to destroy him. He appeared
to the saint in the form of his classmate Gerontius, and urged him to jump off
a precipice, but the Great Martyr George saved the boy.
Another time, the boy
went into the desert to obtain the blessing of the Elder Glycerius. Then there
was a terrible drought throughout the land, and the Elder said, “Child, let us
pray to the Lord on bended knee, asking Him to send rain. Then we shall learn
whether our prayers are pleasing to the Lord.” The old man and the boy began to
pray, and immediately it began to rain. Then the Elder said to St Theodore, that the grace of
God was upon him, and he blessed him to become a monk when the time came.
When he was fourteen, St
Theodore left home and lived near the church of the Great Martyr George. His
mother brought him food, but St Theodore left everything on the stones by the
church, and he ate only a single prosphora each day. Even at such a young age,
St Theodore was granted the gift of healing. Through his prayers a demon-possessed youth was
restored to health.
St Theodore then fled
human glory and he withdrew into complete solitude. Under a large boulder not
far from the church of St George, he dug a cave and persuaded a certain deacon
to cover over the entrance with earth, leaving only a small opening for air. The deacon brought him bread and water and he told no
one,where the monk had hidden himself.
For two years St Theodore
lived in this seclusion and complete quiet. His relatives mourned for the saint, thinking that he
had been devoured by wild beasts.
The deacon finally
revealed the secret, since he was afraid that St Theodore would perish in the
narrow cave, and moreover he pitied the weeping mother. They took St Theodore out of the cave barely alive.
The mother wanted to take her son home and nurse him
back to health, but the saint remained near the church of St George, and after
several days he was completely well.
News of the youth’s exploits reached the local bishop
Theodosius, who ordained him to the diaconate, and later to the holy
priesthood, although the saint was only seventeen years old at the time.
After a certain while St Theodore went to venerate the
holy places in Jerusalem, and there at the Chozeba Lavra near Jordan, he
received monastic tonsure.
When he returned to his
native land, he again continued to live near the church of St George. His grandmother Elpis, his sister Vlatta and his
mother entered a women’s monastery on the saint’s advice, and his aunt died in
a good confession.
The ascetic life of the
young hieromonk attracted to him people seeking salvation. The saint tonsured
the youth Epiphanius, and later on a pious woman, healed by the saint from her
sickness, brought him her son Philoumenus. Then the virtuous youth John also
came to him. Thus brethren gradually gathered around the monk.
St Theodore continued in
his harsh labors. At his request a blacksmith made him an iron cage without a
roof, and so narrow that it was scarcely possible to stand. In this cage the
monk stood in heavy chains from Holy Pascha until the Nativity of Christ. From
the Baptism of the Lord until Holy Pascha he secluded himself in his cave, from
which he emerged only for church services on Saturdays and Sundays. Throughout the whole of the forty-day Fast the saint
ate only greens, and bread on Saturdays and Sundays.
Living in such manner, he
received from the Lord the power over wild animals. Bears and wolves came up to
him and took food from his hand. Through the saint’s prayers, those afflicted
with leprosy were healed, and demons were cast out from whole districts. In the
nearby village of Magatia, when locusts threatened the crops, people turned to
St Theodore for help. He sent them to church. After Divine Liturgy, which he served, the villagers
returned home and learned that during the service all the locusts had died.
When the military
commander Mauricius was returning to Constantinople by way of Galatia after a
Persian war, the monk predicted that he would become emperor. The prediction came true, and the emperor Mauricius
(582-602) fulfilled the saint’s request: he sent bread to the monastery each
year for the multitude of people being fed there.
The small temple of St
George could not accommodate all those who wanted to pray in it. Then through
the efforts of the saint a beautiful new church was built. During this while
the Bishop of Anastasiopolis happened to die. The people of the city requested Metropolitan Paul of
Ancyra to install St Theodore as their bishop.
So that the saint would not resist, the messengers of
the Metropolitan and the people of Anastasiopolis dragged him out of his cell
by force and carried him into the city.
As bishop, St Theodore
toiled much for the welfare of the Church, but his soul yearned for solitary
communion with God. After several years he went to venerate the holy places in
Jerusalem. And there, concealing his identity, he settled at the Lavra of St
Sava, where he lived in solitude from the Nativity of Christ until Pascha. Then the Great Martyr George led him to return to
Anastasiopolis.
Secret enemies tried to
poison the saint, but the Mother of God gave him three small pieces of grain.
The saint ate them and remained unharmed. St Theodore felt weighed down with the burden of being
a bishop and he asked Patriarch Cyriacus of Constantinople (595-606) for a
release to return to his own monastery and celebrate the services there.
Theodore’s sanctity was
so evident that when he celebrated the Eucharist, the grace of the Holy Spirit
appeared as a radiant purple light, overshadowed the Holy Gifts. One time, when the saint elevated the discus with the
holy Lamb and proclaimed “Holy things are for the holy,” the holy Lamb floated
up in the air, and then settled again upon the discus.
The Orthodox Church venerated St Theodore as a saint,
even while he was still alive.
In one of the cities of
Galatia, a terrible event occurred: during a church procession the wooden
crosses being carried began to strike each other by themselves, with the result
that Patriarch Thomas (607-610, March 21) summoned St Theodore, asking him the
meaning of this terrible portent. Having the gift of foresight, St Theodore
explained that this indicated coming misfortunes for the Church of God (he was
prophetically indicating the future heresy of the Iconoclasts). In his grief the holy Patriarch Thomas begged the
saint to pray that he would soon die, so that he would not witness the coming
woe.
In the year 610 the holy
Patriarch Thomas reposed, having asked the blessing of St Theodore. St Theodore
also departed to the Lord.
SOURCE : http://oca.org/saints/lives/2013/04/22/101178-st-theodore-the-sykeote-the-bishop-of-anastasiopolis
Our Holy Father Theodore the Sykeote
(April 22)
* His birthplace was the
village of Sykeon in Galatia, because of which he was named `the Sykeote'.
While still a ten-year-old boy, Theodore gave himself to strict fasting and
night-long vigils under the eye of an elder, Stephen, who lived in his house.
His mother, Maria, was a rich widow and intended her son to devote himself to a
soldier's calling. But St George appeared to her in her sleep and told her that
Theodore was destined for the service, not of an earthly king, but of the King
of heaven. St George also appeared to Theodore many times, either to instruct
him or to save him from some danger in which the evil demons had placed him. He
also had several visions of the most holy Mother of God. Theodore's asceti-cism
exceeded in its severity the asceticism of all the other ascetics of his time.
He tormented his body in hunger and thirst and iron girdles and standing all
night in prayer. All this-only to link his soul in love to God and to achieve
total mastery over his body. The merciful Lord's love responded to Theodore's
love. He gave him great power over evil spirits and over all the ills and pains
of men. He became known on all sides as a miraculous healer. For his great
purity and devotion, he was chosen against his wishes as Bishop of
Anastasioupolis. He spent eleven years in episcopal service, and then begged
God to release him from this service in order to devote himself again to his
beloved asceticism. After that, he returned to his monastery, where, in old
age, he gave his soul to the Lord for whose sake he had undergone so much
voluntary suffering. He died at the beginning of the reign of the Emperor
Herachus, in about 613.
From "The
Prologue from Ochrid", by Bishop Nikolai Velimirovic - Lazarica Press -
Birmingham 1985
Four Book Edition -
Translated by Mother Maria - Dates based on old church calendar.
Please see our calendar for
conversion between old and new calendar dates.
SOURCE : http://serbianorthodoxchurch.net/cgi-bin/saints.cgi?view=576187238316
San Teodoro il Siceota Vescovo
ed egumeno
San Teodoro il Siceota fu
attratto sin da giovane dalla solitudine, scelse uno stile di vita austero e
contro la sua volontà fu ordinato vescovo di Anastasiopoli. Chiese allora
insistentemente al patriarca di Costantinopoli di poter ritornare nel suo romitaggio.
Etimologia: Teodoro =
regalo, dono di Dio, dal greco
Martirologio Romano: Nel
villaggio di Sykéon in Galazia, nell’odierna Turchia, san Teodoro vescovo e
egúmeno, che, attratto fin dall’infanzia dalla solitudine, scelse un austero
tenore di vita e, ordinato suo malgrado vescovo di Anastasiopoli, chiese con
insistenza al patriarca di Costantinopoli di poter fare ritorno al suo eremo.
San Teodoro nacque a Sykeon in Galazia (Asia Minore). La madre e la zia gestivano un albergo che fungeva anche da postribolo, sino a quando giunse un cuoco tanto capace nell'attrarre i clienti che le due donne non ebbero fortunatamente più bisogno di guadagnare il loro necessario prostituendosi. Il cuoco, persona assai devota, incoraggiò anche il giovane Teodoro a frequentare le chiese, gli insegnò a pregare e lo introdusse alla pratica ascetica del digiuno. Questa sorta di direzione spirituale influenzò non poco Teodoro, che decise di farsi eremita presso Arkea, a circa dodici chilometri da casa, ove visse in una grotta antistante una cappella. La sua fama di santità attraeva visitatori, che gli attribuirono addirittura il particolare dono dell'esorcismo contro gli spiriti maligni. Onde evitare che la sua fama si diffondesse ulteriormente, preferì ritirarsi sulle montagne e tentare di vivere in una grotta murata, nota soltanto ad un'altra persona, a cui toccò poi ricondurlo fuori in cattiva salute, sporco ed infetto. A soli diciott'anni ricevette l'ordinazione presbiterale, dopodichè si recò pellegrino a Gerusalemme, dove ricevette l'abito monastico.
Al ritorno da tale esperienza, Teodoro inaugurò un nuovo stile di vita estremamente austero, simile a quello degli stiliti, e prese a vivere sopra alcune ceste sospese. Fu attribuita alla sua intercessione ogni sorta di miracoli, fatto che attirò nuovamente visitatori e discepoli, per i quali si rese necessario organizzare un monastero, un ostello ed una chiesa. Seppur contro la sua volontà, fu eletto vescovo di Anastasiopoli, sede che governò per una decina d'anni, finché ottenne il permesso di rassegnare le dimissioni. Il suo episcopato fu caratterizzato principalmente da miracoli e prodigi. Non restano notizie di suoi “Acta” episcopali, se non tracce di controversie avute con alcuni villaggi delle tenute diocesane, che erano stati affidati a signori laici che maltrattavano ed opprimevano le popolazioni e Teodoro tentò ammaestrare. Diede infine le dimissioni per potersi dedicare anima e corpo alla preghiera ed alla cura dei suoi monaci, che durante la sua assenza avevano assunto costumi piuttosto rilassati. Trovò sistemazione presso Elaiopoli, ma fu poi convocato a Costantinopoli per ricevere grandi onori dall'imperatore, cui aveva guarito il figlio. Trascorse il resto dei suoi giorni in monastero, operando miracoli ed accogliendo i visitatori. Nacque al Cielo nell'anno 613. In tutta la sua vita fu grande devoto di San Giorgio e contribuì alla divulgazione del suo culto.
Autore: Fabio Arduino
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/50500
Voir aussi : http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/rebyz_0766-5598_1972_num_30_1_1459_t1_0345_0000_2
http://www.omhksea.org/2013/04/saint-theodore-of-sykeon-april-22/
