THE LIFE OF ST. THEODORE OF SYKEON

[An asterisk * indicates a note, keyed by chapter, at the end of the life.]

31

(Summary) Theodore while in seclusion in the cage cleanses two lepers-one by blessing some water and pouring it over him after signing him with the sign of the Cross-the other, a priest named Epiphanius, known as Kollouras, from the village of Dioskonis, by lending him his tunic to wear.

32

(Summary) Elpidia the blessed, Theodore's grandmother, was utterly filled with all joy and delight at his virtuous mode of life and at the shining glory of his miracles She had carefully provided everything necessary for the support of the women under her care; some had renounced this world, others were ill, and she had already created a very fine convent. She now came to the days in which she was to die and during this time because of an intense longing for him, but still more because she somehow foreknew that it would be a farewell visit, she stayed closely by him, praying with him and singing with him . . . Later after a slight illness she passed away peacefully in her sleep and was buried by Theodore with due honour.

33

(Summary) A man came from the metropolis of Ancyra and brought the news of the death of the Saint's mother, Mary, so that he might send and receive her dowry, as she had died childless; Theodore did not pay even the slightest attention to this but said to the messenger, 'You are lying and not speaking the truth; for my mother has not died'. On the other's insisting on the fact that he had seen it with his own eyes he again replied to him, 'I told you that you are not speaking the truth; for my mother has not died and is not dying; Heaven forbid! but she is present with me and is alive and will remain with me for ever'. And he continued to give no more thought to the matter; but he made supplication to God on her behalf, while E fasting for a week, imploring Him to grant her forgiveness for; her failings.

34

One day the treasurer of the holy church of the town of Heliopolis, Theodore by name (also called Tzoutzus) came when the Saint was in seclusion shut up in his cave, and through his servant he unfolded the following story to him with many tears. 'Have pity on me, oh servant of God, for the tragedy which has befallen me! I sent my elder son to collect the churchtaxes from the villages and he has taken the whole sum and made off! and though I have run about and searched for him everywhere I have not been able to find him. I therefore implore your holiness to pray to God to restore him to me, because all my substance is insufficient to pay back to the Church the large sum he has taken.'

And the holy man sent this reply to him, 'If you will agree that when he is found you will not give him a beating nor compel him to give up more money than the amount he stole God will be entreated and will restore your son to you; but if you will not consent to this, he will not be restored to you.' Then the father agreed to these terms on oath and said, 'If you bid me, I will also give him some of my own money, if only I receive the dues belonging to the Church which he has taken, so that I or my children may not be made destitute by repaying them.

Then the holy man prayed to the Lord to hold up the man who had committed the theft in whatsoever place he might be and to make known with all speed where he would be found. And the Saint sent a message to the father saying, 'Go and stay at home and do not worry nor be anxious about him - for I trust in God to restore him to you soon if you carry out what you have promised.

The man believed him, since several times before he had received assurance of his miraculous powers, and went home with joy, regarding the Saint's promise as a pledge that could not fail.

Now the holy man's prayer reached the son in a place close to the city of Nicaea and did not allow him to depart thence, but he kept wandering about in a circle in that one place and never got any further, though he seemed to himself to have travelled a long way. In that same place there happened to be some men who knew him and the treasurer and had already heard talk of what had happened, so when they recognized him and saw the senseless way in which he was walking they asked him many times where he came from, and where he was going. Finding that he gave contradictory answers they laid hold on him, and sent word to the treasurer. The latter came and took the stolen gold away from him and returned to the holy man giving thanks to God.

35

A woman once came with her husband from the village of Kalpinus during the days of Lent and she was being evilly treated by a demon. When the Saint rebuked the demon, the latter cried out saying, 'Oh ! violence I do not be angry with me, ironeater,* servant of the Most High, do not send me away into the fire of punishment. For it is not I who am guilty, for I entered into this woman against my will, at the command of one Theodotus, surnamed Kourappus, of the village of Mazamia'. The servant of Christ said to him, 'Behold, I command you in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, not to trouble her in her works from now on until she comes back here again'. The demon became quiet and then the Saint told the man to take his wife and go back home and gather in their crops and afterwards return to him. They did as he ordered, went home, secured their summer crops and their vintage and then went back again. As they entered into the church of the Archangel and saw the Saint's face, the demon began to torture the woman savagely; her husband declared on oath saying that she had not been troubled by the demon at all from the day that he received the Saint's command until that moment. They stayed there one week and as the demon could not bear the rebukes of him who was truly a worker of miracles, he cast the woman down at the feet of the Saint and went out of her. The woman was quite cured and departed with her husband for her home in great joy.

36

On another occasion in the village of Mazamia, which lies on the Upper Siberis in the territory of Mnezine, a large swarm of locusts appeared about June and covered the district like a cloud and ate up the summer crops and the fruit of the vineyards. When the villagers saw this terrible scourge, which had come upon them, having heard of the miracles wrought by the Saint they came to him in a religious procession, threw themselves at his feet and besought him to come and by his acceptable prayers free them from this ill which was afflicting them. He accordingly went with them and lodged in their Catholic church of St. Irenicus (for he was ever wont to lodge in a church). On the morrow he led a religious procession to the plain and ordered the villagers to stand in a certain place and pray to the Lord for mercy. He himself took three locusts in his hand and stood praying to the Lord about them. And whilst he prayed the three locusts died in his hand; then after giving thanks to the Lord he said to the people, 'Let us return to the church, children; for the Lord will speedily show His mercy in our midst'. And so, having recited the holy liturgy, they returned to the church of St. Irenicus. On the morrow the villagers went out to the plain and found every locust dead; and they glorified God.

37

But he that is ever envious of good deeds and the doers thereof and of the servants of Christ aroused in Theodotus, a t special vessel of his, envy at this miracle and the determination J to kill the holy miracleworkers.

Theodotus dwelt in the same village as the Saint and was a skilled sorcerer, thoroughly versed in wickedness. The Evil One did not know that not only would he fail in his projected plan and be put to shame, but would also be punished by being deprived of his instrument of wickedness. Theodotus had seen the miracle of the locusts performed by the Saint, and he also remembered how the demon who served him had shortly before been cast out of the woman. He himself had put the demon into the woman, and the demon after his expulsion had returned to him. Thus incited by the enemy who haunted him and inflamed by the malice of his attendant demon he sent his envoys to attack the Saint and, if possible, so to injure him that he should die.

Those who were sent did not dare even to show themselves to him face to face whilst he was awake but waited for his hour of sleeping; and then stealthily, like thieves, they sought to attack him-thieves indeed they were and powerless to harm him openly.

But the divine power which guarded him routed them; however the bolder in wickedness among them had the effrontery once more to draw near to him to wreak their wickedness and again the grace of God like a fire issuing from him scorched them and drove them away. After they had assaulted him several times seeking to do him injury and had always suffered in the same way, they at last returned shamefacedly to the man who sent them. He questioned them why they had returned without accomplishing anything and taunted them, 'Why, your power is nothing', he said, 'since you were not strong enough to approach and put your spell upon him even when he was asleep, how then are you going in future to meet him face to face?' The envoys retorted, 'We are more anxious than you to prove ourselves able and invincible in the missions on which you send us; but when we tried to approach him, a great flame of fire issued from his mouth-not natural fire which we despise-but divine fire which lives in him-and we were scorched; that is why we came back with nothing done. We attacked him, too, through his food and drink, but the blessing which he always says over it made all our power to harm him of no effect.'

38

Meanwhile Theodotus, still greatly vexed in spirit by his defeat, became yet more infuriated. With great skill he inserted a deadly poison into a fish and charged some other agents of his to see to it that the Saint should eat the fish. But when the Saint through the grace of God and through the blessing which he said over the fish did not take any harm then indeed Theodotus was ashamed at the failure of his murderous designs and reflected upon the weakness of demons and the power of God which is so great and marvellous that it prevails even over demons and poisons and locusts. Becoming sober after the intoxication which was the devil's work, he came to a recognition of God and went and threw himself at the Saint's feet, wailing and weeping and begging to obtain mercy. But the Saint questioned him to learn the reason of his lamentations and supplication, whereupon he then related to him in detail the story of his plottings and the answers of the demons and also revealed to him the diabolic craft he possessed to the hurt of many souls, and implored the Saint both to release him from it and also to grant him holy baptism. And the Saint replied, 'If you wish to be received by God and deemed worthy of pardon from Him for these doings, then first of all make a full confession of all your deeds, and if you still have any book of magic bring it forth. Then loose from the spell of your magic every person whom you have bewitched and every house or beast or anything else, whatsoever it be, and in future never put a spell on anyone but devote yourself to repentance; and I will implore God to grant you forgiveness for your past sins. For God receives those who repent for "He willeth that all men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." [Tim 2:4] And the magician promised and swore that he would fulfil all the Saint's behests; he brought all his books of magic and burnt them in Theodore's presence and asked to be baptized. After the Saint had given him instruction and cleansed him by fastings and works of charity he gave him the bath of incorruption, [Cf. Titus 3:5] and thus added him to the ninety and nine sheep that had not strayed, and by this act proved himself one who put into practice the teaching of James, the Lord's brother, for 'he converted the sinner from the error of his way and saved his soul from death and covered a multitude of sins'. [Jam 5:20]

39

After the Saint had returned to his monastery, it happened that he fell so ill of a desperate sickness that he saw the holy angels coming down upon him; and he began to weep and to be sorely troubled. Now above him there stood an icon of the wonderworking saints Cosmas and Damian. These saints were seen by him looking just as they did in that sacred icons and they came close to him, as doctors usually do; they felt his pulse and said to each other that he was in a desperate state as his strength had failed and the angels had come down from heaven to him. And they began to question him saying, 'Why are you weeping and are sore troubled, brother?' He answered them, 'Because I am unrepentant, sirs, and also because of this little flock which is only newlyinstructed and is not yet stablished and requires much care.' They asked him, 'Would you wish us to go and plead for you that you may be allowed to live for a while?' He answered, 'If you do this, you would do me a great service, by gaining for me time for repentance and you shall win the reward of my repentance and my work from henceforth.' Then the saints turned to the angels and besought them to grant him yet a little time while they went to implore the King on his behalf. They agreed to wait. So the saints departed and entreated on his behalf the heavenly King, the Lord of life and death, Christ our God, Who granted unto Hezekiah the King an addition unto his life of fifteen years. [2 kings 20:6] They obtained their request and came back to the Saint bringing with them a very tall young man, like in appearance to the angels that were there, though differing from them greatly in glory. He said to the holy angels, 'Depart from him, for supplication has been made for him to the Lord of all and King of glory, and He has consented that he should remain for a while in the flesh'. Straightway both they and the young man disappeared from his sight, going up* to heaven. But the Saints, Cosmas and Damian, said to the Saint, 'Rise up brother, and look to thyself and to thy flock; for our merciful Master Who readily yields to supplication has received our petition on your behalf and grants you life to labour for "the meat which perisheth not, but endureth to everlasting life" [John 6:27] and to care for many souls.' With these words they, too, vanished.

Theodore immediately regained his health and strength;* the sickness left him and glorifying God he resumed his life of abstinence and the regular recital of the psalms with still greater zeal and diligence.

40

Through the grace bestowed on him by God Theodore continued to work many miracles against every kind of illness and weakness, but especially did he make supplications to God for aid against unclean spirits; hence, if he merely rebuked them, or even sent them a threat through another,* they would immediately come out of people. Some persons were so profoundly impressed by these miracles that they left their homes, journeyed to him, and entering upon a life of contemplation Joined the monastery; others again who had obtained healing would not leave him but stayed with him, giving him such service as he needed.

Now since the oratory of the holy martyr George was small* and could not contain those who recited the offices as well as those who stayed with the Saint and others* who came up to pray, he built on its right hand side a very fine house (dedicated to Michael, the holy commanderinchief of the angels) which was comfortable both in winter and summer; on its left it had a small oratory dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and one on the right dedicated to the most blessed Mother of God, the evervirgin Mary. In this house he ordained that the community of Brothers should officiate in order that both those who were waiting either to be healed of an illness, or for the expulsion of evil spirits, and those who had come up to pray, might rest awhile in the hallowed church of the Archangel which was open day and night, and listen to the service and join in the prayers and find healing.