Saint
Théodore de Cantorbéry
Évêque (+ 690)
Originaire de Tarse en
Cilicie, il étudia à Athènes où il embrassa la vie monastique. Il se rendit à
Rome pour y compléter ses connaissances. Il fut consacré archevêque de
Cantorbery par le pape Vitalien,
pour assurer le primat de l'Eglise d'Angleterre alors cruellement divisée par
la querelle au sujet de l'adoption des usages liturgiques romains, prônés par les
Angles et l'abandon des traditions liturgiques celtes, prônées par les Bretons
qui étaient restés et ne l'avaient pas quittée pour s'exiler en Armorique.
À
Cantorbéry, en 690, saint Théodore, évêque. Né à Tarse en Cilicie, moine à
Athènes puis à Rome, il fut promu à l’épiscopat par le pape saint Vitalien et
envoyé en Angleterre, déjà presque septuagénaire. Il dirigea, néanmoins, avec
énergie l’Église qui lui était confiée, en augmentant le nombre des diocèses,
en unifiant des coutumes disparates et en développant l’enseignement dans sa
cathédrale.
Martyrologe
romain
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/1883/Saint-Theodore-de-Cantorbery.html
Saint
Theodore of Tarsus stained glass window depicted in St John the Evangelist,
Knotty Ash. File:Queen_Victoria_window,_St_John_the_Evangelist,_Knotty_Ash.jpg
Saint
Théodore de Cantorbéry | archevêque de Canterbury
06 Sep, 2020
Saint Théodore de
Canterbury , (né vers 602, Tarse , Cilicie ,
Asie Mineure - décédé le 19 septembre 690, Canterbury , Kent ,
Angleterre; fête le 19 septembre),septième archevêque
de Cantorbéry et premier archevêque à diriger toute l'Église anglaise.
Nommé par le pape saint
Vitalien, Théodore fut consacré en
668 puis partit de Rome avec les SS.Adrian ,
abbé de Nerida, en Italie, et Benedict Biscop, plus tard abbé de Wearmouth et
Jarrow, Durham. En 669, ils atteignirent Cantorbéry, où Théodore fit
d'Adrian l'abbé de SS. Monastère Pierre et Paul, nommé par la suite
Saint-Augustin. Là, ils ont créé une école célèbre influente dans la vie
de savants aussi brillants que le célèbre historien St.
Bede le Vénérable et le talentueux architecte d'église St. Aldhelm .
Théodore organisa
l'Église anglaise, dont de nombreux sièges étaient vacants à son arrivée et
dont d'autres devaient être divisés. En 672, il convoqua à Hertford le
premier synode général de l'Église anglaise pour mettre fin à certaines
pratiques celtiques et diviser les diocèses. La question de la division a
été reportée, mais le synode a imposé la date de la Pâque romaine, a établi
l'obéissance pour les clercs et les moines, a interdit aux évêques d'intervenir
dans d'autres diocèses et a réaffirmé l'enseignement de l'Église sur le mariage
et le divorce.
Au cours de cette
période, Théodore est entré en conflit avec Wilfrid ,
qu'il avait fait évêque d'York mais qu'il déposa bientôt. Wilfrid est allé
à Rome en 677/678 pour protester. Pendant ce temps, en 678, Théodore a
aidé à régler les relations entre le roi Aethelred du
royaume anglo-saxon de Mercie et le roi Ecgfrith de
Northumbrie, qu'Aethelred avait vaincu au combat. Le synode de Théodore
à Hatfield en
679 a dégagé l'Église anglaise des associations avec l'hérésie des Monothélites ( qv ). En
686, il répara le conflit avec Wilfrid en admettant son erreur et en effectuant
la restauration de Wilfrid. Theodore's Penitential, un recueil
de ses décisions rendues par ses disciples ,
est devenu influent en Angleterre et
sur le continent.
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La plus grande réussite
de Théodore fut d'adapter l'idéal romain d'une église centralisée aux
conditions anglaises. Son établissement d'une église centralisée sous
l'archevêché de Canterbury en étroite alliance avec les dirigeants séculiers a été
maintenu par ses successeurs. Aucune biographie de Théodore n'a survécu.
SOURCE : https://delphipages.live/fr/divers/saint-theodore-of-canterbury
Saint
Théodore, archevêque de Cantorbéry (690)
Saint Théodore fut le
huitième archevêque de Cantorbéry (668-690), et l'un des grands saints de
l'Angleterre. Il était Grec de Tarse, la ville du saint apôtre Paul. C'était un
moine très éduqué, vivant à Rome, qui a rapidement gravi tous les échelons de
la hiérarchie ecclésiastique et qui fut consacré archevêque de Cantorbéry à
l'âge de soixante-cinq ans. Saint Adrien, africain qui était l'higoumène d'un
monastère près de Naples, fut envoyé pour aider saint Théodore dans sa mission.
Saint Théodore est arrivé
dans le Kent en 669, quand il avait près de soixante-dix ans. En dépit de son
âge, il était assez énergique, voyageant à travers l'Angleterre fondant des
églises, et consacrant des évêques pour combler ces sièges qui ont été laissés
vacants par une épidémie de peste. Il a également créé de nouveaux sièges
épiscopaux et a établi une école à Cantorbéry où le grec était enseigné.
Saint Théodore convoqua
un Concile de toute l'Église anglaise à Hertford en 672. Non seulement ce
Concile fut le premier de l'Église en Angleterre, mais ce fut aussi la première
assemblée à laquelle participèrent des représentants de tout le pays. En 679,
il convoqua un autre synode à Hatfield pour maintenir la pureté de la doctrine orthodoxe
et condamner l'hérésie du monothélisme.
Saint Théodore s'endormit
dans le Seigneur en 690, et son corps resta longtemps intact. Sous sa
direction, l'Église d'Angleterre devint unie d'une manière que ne connaissaient
pas les différents royaumes tribaux. Les structures diocésaines qu'il établit
continuent à servir de base pour l'administration de l'Église en Angleterre. Il
était respecté pour ses compétences administratives, et aussi pour ses
décisions morales et canoniques.
L'histoire de l'Église et
du peuple d'Angleterre de Saint Bède donne des informations détaillées sur la
vie de saint Théodore et de son œuvre comme archevêque de Cantorbéry (Livres IV
et V).
La fête de saint Théodore
est au 19 septembre de chaque année.
Version française Claude
Lopez-Ginisty
d'après
http://www.oodegr.com/english/biographies/arxaioi/Theodore_Canterbury.htm
SOURCE : http://orthodoxologie.blogspot.ca/2010/04/saint-theodore-archeveque-de-cantorbery.html
St Augustine's Abbey, Canterbury - gravesite of
Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury
Also
known as
Theodore of Tarsus
Second Founder of
Canterbury
Profile
Educated in
Tarsus, Cilicia (part of modern Turkey). Lived for a while in Athens, Greece. Monk in Rome, Italy.
Friend of Saint Adrian
of Canterbury who recommended that Pope Saint Vitalian choose
Theodore as Archbishop of Canterbury, England in 666.
He visited all of England,
supporting or re-establishing the Church throughout
the country. Theodore promoted education and evangelization,
and held the first national Council of Hertford in 672.
Worked with Saint Erconwald
of London.
Born
690 of
natural causes
Additional
Information
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of Saints, by the Monks of
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of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
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en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
MLA
Citation
“Saint Theodore of
Canterbury“. CatholicSaints.Info. 4 February 2019. Web. 15 January 2022.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-theodore-of-canterbury/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-theodore-of-canterbury/
Skulptur
an der ihm geweihten katholischen Kirche in Crawley in West Sussex.
Theodore,
Archbishop of Canterbury
Seventh Archbishop of Canterbury,
b. at Tarsus in
Cilicia about 602; d. at Canterbury 19
September, 690.
Theodore was a monk (probably
of the Basilian
Order) but not yet in Holy
Orders, living at Rome in
667, when Pope
Vitalian chose him for the See
of Canterbury in place of Wighard, who had died before consecration.
After receiving orders,
Theodore was consecrated by
the Pope himself,
on 26 March, 668, and set out for England,
but did not reach Canterbury until
May, 669. The new primate found
the English
Church still suffering from the jealousies and
bitterness engendered by the long Paschal
controversy, only lately settled, and sadly lacking in order and
organization. The dioceses,
coterminous with the divisions of the various kingdoms, were of unwieldy size,
and many of then were vacant.
Theodore, says Bede,
at once "visited all the island, wherever the tribes of the Angles
inhabited", and was everywhere received with respect and welcome. He made
appointments to the vacant bishoprics,
regularized the position of St.
Chad, who had not been duly consecrated,
corrected all that was faulty, instituted the teaching of music and
of sacred and secular learning throughout
the country, and had the distinction of being, as Bede specifically
mentions, "the first archbishop whom
all the English obeyed".
In 673 he convoked at
Hertford the first synod of
the whole province,
an assembly of great importance as the forerunner and prototype of future English witenagemotes
and parliaments. Going later to the court of the King of Northumbria, which
country was entirely under the jurisdiction of St.
Wilfrid, he divided it into four dioceses against
the will of Wilfrid, who appealed to Pope
Agatho. The pope's decision
did not acquit Theodore of arbitrary and irregular action, although his plan
for the subdivision of the Northumbrian diocese was
carried out. For St.
Cuthbert in 685, and in the following year he was fully reconciled to
Wilfrid, who was restored to his See
of York. Thus, before his death, which occurred five years later, Theodore
saw the diocesan system
of the English
Church fully organized under his primatical and metropolitical authority.
Stubbs emphasizes the immensely important work done by Theodore not only in
developing a single united ecclesiastical body out of the heterogeneous Churches of
the several English kingdoms,
but in thus realizing a national unity which was not to be attained in secular
matters for nearly three centuries.
Apart from the
epoch-making character of his twenty-one years' episcopate, Theodore was a man
of commanding personality:
inclined to be autocratic, but possessed of great ideas,
remarkable powers of administration, and intellectual gifts of
a high order, carefully cultivated. Practically his only literary remains are
the collected decisions in disciplinary matters,
well known as "The Penitential of Theodore". It was first published
complete by Wasserschleben in 1851, and several editions of it have been
printed during the past sixty years. Theodore was buried in
St. Augustine's Monastery, Canterbury,
a long poetical epitaph, of which Bede has
preserved only eight verses, being inscribed upon his tomb.
Hunter-Blair,
Oswald. "Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury." The Catholic
Encyclopedia. Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1912. 19 Sept.
2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14571a.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Lucia Tobin.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2021 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE
: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14571a.htm
St.
Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury, Confessor
AFTER the death of St.
Deusdedit, archbishop of Canterbury, Oswi, king of Northumberland, and Egbert,
king of Kent, sent a virtuous and learned priest, named Wighard, to Rome, that
he might be consecrated bishop, and duly confirmed to that important see by the
pope himself. Wighard and most of those who attended him died in Italy of the
plague; and Vitalian, who then sat in St. Peter’s chair, pitched upon Adrian,
abbot of Niridian, near Naples, to be raised to that dignity. This abbot was by
birth an African, understood Greek and Latin perfectly well, and was thoroughly
versed in theology, and in the monastic and ecclesiastical discipline. But so
great were his fears of the dignity to which he was called, that the pope was
compelled by his entreaties and tears to yield to his excuses. He insisted,
however, that Adrian should find a person equal to that charge, and should
himself attend upon and assist him in instructing the inhabitants of this
remote island in the perfect discipline of the Church. How edifying and happy
was this contention—not to obtain—but to shun such a dignity! Adrian first
named to the pope a monk called Andrew; but he was judged incapable of the
necessary fatigues on account of his bodily infirmities, though otherwise a
person extremely well qualified. There was then at Rome a Grecian monk, named
Theodore, a native of Tarsus, in Cilicia, a man of exemplary life, and well
skilled in divine and human learning, and in the Greek and Latin languages, who
was sixty-six years old. Him Adrian presented to the pope, and procured him to
be ordained bishop, promising to bear him company into England.
Theodore,
being ordained subdeacon, waited four months that his hair might grow, that it
might be shaved in the form of a crown; for the Greek monks shaved their heads
all over. At length Pope Vitalian consecrated him bishop, on Sunday the 26th
day of March, in 668, and recommended him to St. Bennet Biscop, who had then
come a third time to Rome, but whom the pope obliged to return to England with
St. Theodore and Adrian, in order to be their guide and interpreter. They set
out on the 27th of May; went by sea to Marseilles; and from thence by land to
Arles, where they were entertained by the archbishop John, till Ebroin, mayor
of the palace, had sent them permission to continue their journey. St. Theodore
passed the winter at Paris with the bishop Agilbert, who had formerly been
bishop of Winchester, in England. By his conversation the new archbishop
informed himself of the circumstances and necessities of the church of which he
was going to take upon him the charge: he also learned the English language.
Egbert, king of Kent, hearing his new archbishop was arrived at Paris, sent one
of the lords of his court to meet him, who, having obtained leave of Ebroin,
waited on him to the port of Quentavic, in Ponthieu, now called St.
Josse-sur-Mer. Theodore falling sick, was obliged to stay there some time. As
soon as he was able to travel, he proceeded on his voyage, with St. Bennet
Biscop, and took possession of his see of Canterbury on Sunday, the 27th of
May, 669. Adrian was detained in France some time by Ebroin, who suspected that
he was sent by the emperor to the kings of England on some designs against the
French. He stayed a considerable time, first with Emmo, archbishop of Sens, and
afterwards with St. Faro, bishop of Meaux. Ebroin being at last satisfied, he
was permitted to follow St. Theodore, by whom he was made abbot of St. Peter’s
at Canterbury.
St. Theodore made a
general visitation of all the churches of the English nation, taking with him
the abbot Adrian. He was everywhere well received, and heard with attention;
and, wherever he came, he established sound morality, confirmed the discipline
of the Catholic Church in the celebration of Easter, and introduced everywhere
the Gregorian or Roman chanting in the divine office, till then known in few of
the English churches, except those of Kent. He regulated all other things
belonging to the divine service, reformed abuses, and ordained bishops in all places
where he thought they were wanting. He confirmed St. Wilfrid in the see of
York, 1 declaring
the ordination of Ceadda irregular in two respects,—because he was intruded to
the prejudice of St. Wilfrid, and because he had not received his consecration
by lawful authority. Ceadda replied that he had been ordained against his
inclinations, confessed himself unworthy of that dignity, and retired with joy
to his monastery of Lestinguen. But St. Theodore made him bishop of the
Mercians, or of Litchfield, which see was vacant by the death of Jaruman.
St. Theodore
was the first archbishop of Canterbury, after St. Austin, who presided over the
whole church of England. He was founder of a most famous school at Canterbury,
which produced many great men: for Theodore and Adrian themselves expounded the
scriptures, and taught all the sciences, particularly astronomy and
ecclesiastical arithmetic for calculating Easter; also how to compose Latin
verses. Many under them became as perfect in the Latin and Greek languages as
they were in their own tongue. Britain had never been in so flourishing a
condition as at this time since the English first set foot in the island. The
kings were so brave, says Bede, that all the barbarous nations dreaded their
power; but withal such good Christians, that they aspired only after the joys
of the kingdom of heaven, which had been but lately preached to them. All men’s
minds seemed only bent on the goods of the life to come, to use the words of
our venerable historian. St. Theodore established schools in most parts of
England, and it is hard to say whether we ought most to admire the zeal and
unwearied labours of the pastors, or the docility, humility, and insatiable
ardour of the people, with whom to hear, to learn, and to practise seemed one
and the same thing.
In 670, St. Theodore held
a national council at Heorutford, which Cave, Mabillon, and many others, take
to be Hertford; though it seems more probably to have been Thetford, as Ralph
Hidgen 2 and
Trevisa 3 positively
affirm. And in this council Bisi, bishop of the East-Angles, sat next to the
archbishop. It is ordained in one of the canons, that no man leave his wife,
unless in the case of adultery; and that even in this case, a true Christian
ought not to marry another. This synod enacted, that a council should be
assembled annually on the 1st of August at Cloveshoe, which Mr. Somner proves
to be Abingdon in Berkshire, which was on the borders of the Mercian kingdom, and
was anciently called Shovesham, and originally Clovesham. The archbishop
quotes, in this synod, for the regulation of Easter, and other points, a book
of canons; by which Dr. Smith understands the council of Chalcedon, some others
St. Theodore’s Penitential: but no such decisions are found in either; and it
was probably a code of canons of the Roman Church which was here appealed to.
The Eutychian and Monothelite heresies having made great havoc in the East, St.
Theodore held another synod, in 680, at Hetfield, now called Bishop’s Hatfield,
in Hertfordshire, in which the mystery of the Incarnation was expounded, the
five first general councils were received, and the above-said heresies
condemned.
In 678, at the request of
King Egfrid, St. Theodore divided the see of York into three bishoprics, and
constituted so many new bishops in the room of St. Wilfrid, who refused to come
into that project. In the following year, St. Theodore ordained St. Erconwald
bishop of London. War breaking out between Egfrid, king of the Northumbers, and
Ethelred, king of the Mercians, a great battle was fought near the Trent, in
which Elfwin, the amiable young brother of Egfrid was slain. Upon this news,
St. Theodore relying upon the divine assistance, immediately set out, to extinguish
the flame of war which both kings were bent on carrying on with greater fury
than before the engagement: but the authority of the good bishop, and the
religious motives which he made use of, disarmed them at once, and our saint
was so happy as to cement a firm and cordial peace between the two nations,
upon no other condition than that of paying the usual mulct to King Egfrid for
the loss of his brother. Few things have rendered the name of St. Theodore more
famous than his Penitential or Code of Canons, prescribing the term of public
penance for penitents, according to the quality and enormity of their sins. 4 By
this Penitential, it appears, 5 that
when a monk died, mass was said for him on the day of his burial, on the third
day after, and as often again as the abbot thought proper: also that the holy
sacrifice was offered for the laity, and accompanied with fasting. 6
St. Theodore being above
fourscore years of age, and seized with frequent fits of sickness, was desirous
to be reconciled to St. Wilfrid. He therefore requested the exiled holy prelate
to come to him at London, begged his pardon for having consented with the kings
to his deprivation, without any fault on his side, did all he could to make him
amends, and restored him to his entire see of York; for which purpose he wrote
strong letters to Alfrid, king of Northumberland, who had succeeded his brother
Egfrid; to Ethelred, king of the Mercians; to Elfleda, abbess of Streneshal,
and others who opposed St. Wilfrid, or were interested in this affair; and he
had the comfort to see his endeavours every where successful. St. Theodore was
twenty-two years archbishop, and died in 690, aged fourscore and eight years;
his memory is honoured on the 19th day of September, which was that of his
death. He was buried in the monastery of St. Peter, which afterwards took the
name of St. Austin. See Bede, l. 4, c. 1, 2, 21, l. 5, c. 8, and the lives of
St. Wilfrid, and of St. Bennet Biscop. Ceillier, t. 17, p. 740. Wilkins,
Concil. Magnæ Britan. t. 1, p. 42, and the learned Mr. Johnson’s Collection of
Canons of the Church of England, vol. 1, ad an. 673.
Note 1. Eddi in Vitâ
S. Wilfr. n. 15. [back]
Note 2. Polychron.
l. 5, p. 239. [back]
Note 3. Ib. p.
309. [back]
Note 4. Spelman
thought this Penitential too long to be inserted in his edition of the English
councils, (t. 1, p. 154;) and was imitated by Wilkins. (Conc. Britan. tom. 1.)
Luke D’Achery published one hundred and twenty articles of this work,
(Spicilegii, t. 9,) which Labbe reprinted. (Conc. t. 6, p. 537.) James Petit
published a part of this Penitential, in two volumes, quarto, with several
dissertations and foreign pieces; but his edition is less accurate than the
former, and many canons are added from other later Western penitentials, in
some of which Theodore is himself quoted, and some decisions occur which stand
in need of amendment. The six-score articles which contains a summary account
of the discipline of the Latin and Greek churches, are the chief part of what
can be depended upon to be the genuine work of St. Theodore. In these it is
remarkable, that the apostolical temporary precept of the council at Jerusalem,
of abstaining from things strangled, and from blood, was still observed in some
churches. That among the Greeks in the seventh century, even the laity received
the communion every Sunday, and they who failed three times together were
excommunicated. That children brought up in monasteries were permitted to eat
flesh till fourteen years of age; the boys might be professed at fifteen, and
girls at sixteen. Lastly, that the penitential canons then began to be mitigated,
by shortening the term of penances. St. Theodore prescribed but one year for
fornication, three for adultery, and seven for murder. This relaxation
gradually crept into the Oriental church, after Nectarius had abolished the
office of penitentiary or public censor. In condescension to the weakness of
many penitents, St. Theodore introduced the modern penitential canons of the
Greeks into those churches, whose discipline he regulated, and was, in process
of time, followed by many others in the West; as appears from several
penitentials made in imitation of his, the authority of which is not to be
compared to that of the ancient penitential canons in their decisions. The
Penitentiary of Ecbright archbishop of York, in 740, was compiled upon this
model. [back]
Note 5. Cap.
16. [back]
Note 6. Cap. 19,
77. [back]
Rev. Alban
Butler (1711–73). Volume IX: September. The Lives of the
Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/9/192.html
St
Theodore of Tarsus the Archbishop of Canterbury
Commemorated on September
19
Saint Theodore was the
eighth Archbishop of Canterbury (668-690), and one of England’s great saints.
He was a Greek from Tarsus, the home of St Paul. He was a highly-educated monk
living in Rome who was quickly advanced through all the clerical ranks and
consecrated as Archbishop of Canterbury at the age of sixty-five. St Adrian
(January 9), an African who was the abbot of a monastery near Naples, was sent
to assist St Theodore.
St Theodore arrived in
Kent in 669, when he was almost seventy. In spite of his age, he was quite
energetic, traveling throughout England founding churches and consecrating
bishops to fill those Sees which were left vacant by an outbreak of plague. He
also created new Sees and established a school in Canterbury where Greek was
taught.
In Northumbria, St
Theodore settled a dispute involving episcopal succession. St Wilfrid (October
12) had been elected Bishop of Lindisfarne (the See was later transferred to
York), and he traveled to Gaul to be consecrated by a Roman bishop, because he
would not accept consecration from a Celtic bishop. In the meantime, St Chad,
or Ceadda (March 2), had been elected and uncanonically consecrated because
Wilfrid remained in Gaul for three years. Although StTheodore deposed St Chad,
he recognized his worthiness to be a bishop. He regularized the consecration,
then sent St Chad to be Bishop of Mercia. St Wilfred was restored to his See.
St Theodore summoned a
council of the entire English Church at Hertford in 672. Not only was this the
first church council in England, it was the first assembly of any kind attended
by representatives from all over the country. In 679 he convened another synod at
Hatfield to maintain the purity of Orthodox doctrine and to condemn the heresy
of Monothelitism.
St Theodore fell asleep
in the Lord in 690, and his body remained incorrupt for a long time. Under his
leadership, the English Church became united in a way that the various tribal
kingdoms did not. The diocesean structures which he established continue to
serve as the basis for church administration in England. He was respected for
his administrative skills, and also for his moral and canonical decisions.
SOURCE : https://oca.org/saints/lives/2013/09/19/102671-st-theodore-of-tarsus-the-archbishop-of-canterbury
San Teodoro di Canterbury Vescovo
Martirologio
Romano: A Canterbury in Inghilterra, san Teodoro, vescovo, che, monaco di
Tarso, elevato all’episcopato dal papa san Vitaliano e mandato quasi
settuagenario in Inghilterra, governò con forza d’animo la Chiesa a lui
affidata.
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/70810
Theodor von Canterbury
auch: von Tarsus
Gedenktag katholisch: 19. September
nicht gebotener Gedenktag in England
Übertragung der Gebeine: 13. September
Gedenktag
anglikanisch: 19. September
Gedenktag orthodox:
19. September
Name bedeutet: Gottes
Geschenk (griech.)
Erzbischof von Canterbury
* 602 in Tarsus in Kilikien in der Türkei
† 19. September 690 in Canterbury (?)
in England
Ruinen der um 400
offenbar als Bischofskirche errichteten Kirche
Megala Panagia im Gelände der Ausgrabungen an der Hadriansbibliothek
in Athen
Theodor war ein
griechischer Mönch, ausgebildet in Tarsus,
dann in Athen.
Nach der Synode in Whitby sandten
die Könige von Kent und Northumbrien den
dort zum Erzbischof von Canterbury bestimmten
Priester Wigheard zur Weihe durch den Papst nach Rom.
Wigheard aber starb dort, der Papst wollte zunächst den Mönch Hadrian - einen
Afrikaner - schicken, der aber zurücktrat und den Mönch Theodor empfahl.
Papst Vitalianus weihte
also Theodor - auch, weil damals in England eine schlimme Pestseuche wütete,
die auch viele Priester und Bischöfe hinweggerafft hatte.
Theodor gelang es, die
Strukturen der Kirche von England dauerhaft nach römischem Vorbild zu
organisieren, er wurde nach dem Zeugnis von Beda
Venerabilis der erste Erzbischof, den die ganze Kirche der
Angelsachsen anerkannte. Dabei half ihm seine fremde Herkunft, die ihm
von Rom verliehene
Autorität und seine innere Unabhängigkeit. Er weihte auf die vielen unbesetzten
Bistümer unbestreitbar Romtreue - also nicht der irischen Tradition zugeneigte
- Amtsinhaber und machte die Kirche unabhängig von den vielen Kleinkönigen.
Lange bevor England ein einheitlicher Staat wurde, waren so dessen Grundzüge
kirchlicherseits bereits vorgeprägt. Zur Durchsetzung seiner Amtsautorität in
ganz England halfen auch die von ihm einberufenen Synoden in Hereford 672
und in Hatfield 678
enthob er Bischof Wilfrid
von York seines Amtes, denn der hatte sich geweigert, der Aufteilung
seiner Diözese in drei kleinere Bistümer zuzustimmen; Theodor wollte mit der
Auslgliederung der Bistümer Hexham und
Lindsey mit Sitz in Lincoln der
Ausbildung einer nordenglischen Gegenmacht und eines zweiten englischen
Erzbistums in York entgegenwirken.
Zwar bekam Wilfried die Unterstützung von Papst Agatho, aber
Theodor erklärte das päpstliche Dekret als Fälschung.
In Canterbury richtete
Theodor ein Ausbildungszentrum ein, in dem er die Fülle der christlichen und
antiken Bildung für England zugänglich machte. Unter seiner Führung, so Beda, machten
die Kirchen der Engländer größeren spirituellen Fortschritt denn je zuvor.
Neben Augustinus
von Canterbury gilt Theodor als der zweite Gründer der Kirche von
England.
Worte des Heiligen
Die Hauptsünden und die ihnen untergeordneten Sünden:
Nun will ich dir die acht Hauptsünden vorstellen. … Aus ihnen entspringen alle übrigen Laster:
Aus dem Hochmut, der Ursprung jeder Sünde und König aller Übel ist, entspringen Ungehorsam, Anmaßung, Hartnäckigkeit, Streitereien, Häresien, Stolz.
Aus Neid und Missgunst entspringen Hass, Ohrenbläserei, Herabsetzung, Freude, wenn dem Nächsten etwas Schlimmes zustößt, Betrübnis, wenn es ihm gut geht.
Aus eitler Ruhmsucht kommen Prahlerei, Anmaßung, Entrüstung, Zwietracht, eitle Ruhmgier und Heuchelei.
Zorn ist die Quelle von Händel, Aufgeblasenheit, Schmähungen, Geschrei, Entrüstung, Vermessenheit, Lästerungen, Blutvergießen, Totschlag, Rachsucht, Nachträglichkeit.
In der Traurigkeit wurzeln Bosheit, innerer Groll, Kleinmut, Bitterkeit, Verzweiflung, Betäubung, innere Unstetigkeit, oft auch höchster Lebensgenuss.
Aus der Habsucht entspringen Missgunst, Diebstahl, Raub, Mord, Lüge, Meineide, Raubzüge, innere Unruhe, Gewalttätigkeiten, ungerechtes Urteil, Verachtung der Wahrheit, Vergessen des künftigen Glückseligkeit, Verhärtung des Herzens.
Aus der Völlerei kommen unpassende Fröhlichkeit, Possenreißerei, Leichtsinn, Geschwätzigkeit, körperliche Unreinheit, geistige Instabilität, Trunksucht, Wollust, sinnliche Stumpfheit.
Aus der Verschwendungssucht erwächst geistige Blindheit, Unüberlegtheit,
Unbeständigkeit, Unbeherrschtheit der Augen und des ganzen Körpers, Hass auf
die Gebote Gottes, Weltverfallenheit, Zukunftsangst und
Verzweiflung."
Die Tugenden, mit denen die entsprechenden Laster überwunden werden können:
Wenn du bis jetzt hochmütig warst, dann verdemütige dich vor Gott!
Wenn du eitlen Ruhm geliebt hast, dann bedenke, dass du nicht wegen vergänglichem Lob den ewigen Lohn verlierst.
Wenn dich bisher der Rost des Neides aufgezehrt hat, - dies ist die größte Sünde und über alles verwerflich, da der Neider dem Teufel zugeführt wird, der dem ersten Menschen die Gabe missgönnt hat, die er selbst durch seine eigene Schuld verloren hatte -, dann tu Buße und sieh den Erfolg anderer als deinen eigenen an!
Wenn dich Traurigkeit überkommt, dann betrachte Geduld und Langmut!
Wenn dir die Krankheit der Habgier zu schaffen macht, dann denk daran, dass sie die Wurzel aller Übel ist und dem Götzendienst Vorschub leistet, und darum sollst du freigebig sein!
Wenn in dir Zorn aufkommt, der im Inneren der Toren seinen Platz hat, dann sollst du deinen Geist beherrschen und ihn durch Gemütsruhe von dir vertreiben!
Wenn die Gefräßigkeit dich zum übermäßigen Essen verleitet, dann bemühe dich um Nüchternheit.
Wenn es sich um Schwelgerei handelt, dann gelobe Keuschheit.
Quelle: Bußbuch c. 12 und
c. 13. In: Patrologia Latina 99, Sp.940f; eigene Übersetzung
zusammengestellt von Abt em. Dr. Emmeram Kränkl OSB,
Benediktinerabtei Schäftlarn,
für die Katholische
SonntagsZeitung
Stadlers
Vollständiges Heiligenlexikon
Schriften
von Theodor gibt es online zu lesen in den Documenta Catholica Omnia.
Informationen zu Canterbury gibt
es auf der Homepage der Kirchengemeinde der Kathedrale von Canterbury.
Die Hadriansbibliothek in
Athen und das Ausgrabungsgelände westlich davon ist täglich von 8 Uhr bis 20
Uhr geöffnet, der Eintritt beträgt 4 €. Für alle archäologischen Stätten in
Athen gibt es ein fünf Tage gültiges Kombiticket zum Preis von 30 €. (2019)
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Autor: Joachim
Schäfer - zuletzt aktualisiert am 17.05.2020
Quellen:
• Vera Schauber, Hanns Michael Schindler: Heilige und Patrone im Jahreslauf.
Pattloch, München 2001
• Roland Hill: Gregors große englische Mission. Stuttgarter Zeitung 14. Juni
1997
• Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, begr. von Michael Buchberger. Hrsg. von
Walter Kasper, 3., völlig neu bearb. Aufl., Bd. 9. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau
2000
korrekt zitieren: Joachim Schäfer: Artikel Theodor von Canterbury, aus dem Ökumenischen Heiligenlexikon - https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienT/Theodor_von_Canterbury.htm, abgerufen am 15. 1. 2022
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet das Ökumenische
Heiligenlexikon in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte
bibliografische Daten sind im Internet über http://d-nb.info/1175439177 und http://d-nb.info/969828497 abrufbar.
SOURCE : https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienT/Theodor_von_Canterbury.htm
Voir aussi : https://www.catholicireland.net/saintoftheday/st-theodore-of-canterbury-602-690-monk-missionary-and-archbishop/
