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[[File:Osios David of Thessaloniki.jpg|right|thumb|275px|Saint David the Dendrite of Thessaloniki (†540).]]
Our Venerable and God-bearing Father '''David of Thessalonica''', also '''David the Dendrite''' ({{el icon}}: Ὁ Ὅσιος Δαβὶδ ἐν Θεσσαλονίκη) circa 450 AD - 540 AD, was a renowned [[Asceticism|ascetic]] and [[Fool-for-Christ|blessed fool]] of Thessaloniki, in Byzantine Greece who lived as a dendrite for three years, in a form of asceticism similar to that of the [[Stylite]] saints.
===David the Dendrite===
[[File:Osios David - sketch.jpg|right|thumb|240px|Saint David the Dendrite of Thessaloniki (†540).]]
The examples of holy men of the [[Old Testament]], in particular the [[Prophet]] and King [[David]], prompted the Venerable David to live his ascetic ordeals by climbing up an almond tree to the right of the church (the [[Katholikon]] of the monastery) and living up there for three years, until the [[Lord]] would reveal His will to him, and grant him wisdom and humility. One source tells us that this tree was in between two churches within the monastery. This symbolic number (three) corresponds, according to the text, to the three year span in which the Prophet David gained goodness, education, and prudence, after his request to God.<ref>Kōnstantinos P. Charalampidēs. ''[http://books.google.ca/books?id=gUawvQJAuYEC&source=gbs_navlinks_s The Dendrites in Pre-Christian and Christian Historical-literary Tradition and Iconography].'' Volume 73 of Studia Archaeologica. L'ERMA di BRETSCHNEIDER, 1995. p.70</ref><ref group="note">E.E. Delidimos. ''Ὁ Ὅσιος Δαβὶδ ο ἐν Θεσσαλονίκη. Thessaloniki.'' 1979. p.6:<br>
:*{{el icon}} "Δαυιβ ο βασιλευς και θεραπων του Θεου τριετῆ χρόνον ᾐτήσατο ἵνα δοθῇ αὐτῷ χρηστότης καὶ παιδεία καὶ σύνεσις, και ουτως μετα τριετῆ χρόνον εισηκουσεν ο Θεος της δεησις αυτου. δει καμε τριετῆ χρόνον καθισαι εν τω δενδρω τουτω, οπως ο κυριος μου Ιησους αποκαλυψη μοι και επιδη επι την ταπεινωσιν μου, και δωσει μοι σύνεσιν και ταπεινωσιν του δουλευειν αυτω εν φοβω και τρομω."</ref>