View source for Theodosius the Great (Cenobiarch)

[[Image:Theodosius the Cenobiarch (mosaic in Nea Moni).jpg|thumb|right|250px|'''Theodosius the Great (Cenobiarch)''' - 11th century mosaic in the Nea Moni Monastery (Greece)]]The Venerable Saint '''Theodosius the Great''', also '''Theodosius the Cenobiarch''' lived during the fifth-sixth centuries (423 AD - 529 AD), and was the founder and organizer of the [[cenobitic]] way of [[monasticism|monastic life]].<ref group="note">Note that Saint [[Pachomius the Great]] (ca.292-346 AD) was also a founder of [[cenobitic]] monasticism, earlier on in the Egyptian Desert.</ref> The [[monastery]] that he founded in 476 AD became known as the "Monastery of St. Theodosius", and includes his tomb.<ref group="note">The "Monastery of St. Theodosius" was founded east of the village of [[w:al-Ubeidiya|al-Ubeidiya]] (ancient Cathismus) in the West Bank, 12 kilometres east of [[Church of the Nativity (Bethlehem)|Bethlehem]]. The current structure was built by the Crusaders in the 12th-century. It is located on a hilltop and is under the administration of the [[Church of Jerusalem|Greek Orthodox Church]].</ref> His [[feast day]] is on [[January 11]].

==Life==
Saint Theodosius was born in the province of [[Cappadocian Fathers|Cappadocia]] in the village of Mogarissus. His parents Proheresius and Eulogia were very devout.

Endowed with a splendid voice, he zealously toiled at church [[Reader|reading]] and [[Byzantine Chant|singing]]. St Theodosius prayed fervently that the [[Lord]] would guide him on the way to [[salvation]]. In his early years he visited the [[Holy Land]] and met with St [[Symeon the Stylite]] ([[September 1]]), who blessed him and predicted future pastoral service for him.

Yearning for the solitary life, Saint Theodosius settled in Palestine into a desolate cave, in which, according to [[Tradition]], the three [[Magi]] had spent the night, having come to worship the Savior after His [[Nativity]]. He lived there for thirty years in great abstinence and unceasing [[prayer]]. People flocked to the [[ascetic]], wishing to live under his guidance. 

When the cave could no longer hold all the [[monks]], St Theodosius prayed that the Lord Himself would indicate a place for the monks to live. Taking a [[censer]] with cold charcoal and [[incense]], the monk started walking into the [[Desert Fathers|desert]]. At a certain spot the charcoal ignited by itself and the incense smoke began to rise. Here the monk established the first [[cenobitic]] monastery, or [[Lavra]] (meaning "broad" or "populous"). 

It was around this time that Theodosius' friend and countryman [[Sabbas the Sanctified]] was appointed [[Archimandrite]] of all the isolated monks in Palestine, by Patriarch Sallustius of Jerusalem (486-493). Therefore Theodosius was made the leader of all those [[Cenobitic|monks who lived in community]], and this was the origin of his being called "the Cenobiarch", which translates as chief of those living a life in common.

===Monastery of St. Theodosius===
Soon the Lavra of St Theodosius became renowned, and up to 700 monks gathered at it. According to the final testament of St Theodosius, the Lavra rendered service to neighbor, gave aid to the poor and provided shelter for wanderers. There was a communal table for all, communal property, communal [[penance]], communal labor, communal patience and, not too rare, communal hunger. Theodosius was an exalted model of life to all the monks; an example in labor, prayer, fasting, watchfulness and in all Christian virtues. 

St Theodosius was extremely compassionate. Once, when there was a famine in Palestine and a multitude of people gathered at the monastery, he gave orders to allow everyone into the monastery enclosure. His disciples were annoyed, knowing that the monastery did not have the means to feed all those who had come. But when they went into the bakery, they saw that through the prayers of the abba, it was filled with bread. This [[miracle]] was repeated every time St Theodosius wanted to help the destitute.

At the monastery, St Theodosius built a home for taking in strangers, separate infirmaries for [[monks]] and [[Laity|laymen]], and also a shelter for the dying. 

Seeing that people from various lands gathered at the [[Lavra]], the saint arranged for services and hymns to be offered to God in the various languages: Greek, Georgian and Armenian. However when all were gathered to receive the [[Holy Mysteries]] in the large church, the divine services were [[Byzantine Chant|chanted]] in Greek.

===Opponent of Monophysitism===
During the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Anastasius (491-518) there arose the [[heresy]] of Eutychius and [[Severus of Antioch|Severus]], which recognized neither the [[sacraments]] nor the [[clergy]]. The emperor accepted the false teaching, and the Orthodox began to suffer persecution. St Theodosius stood firmly in defense of [[Orthodoxy]] and wrote a letter to the emperor on behalf of the monks, in which they denounced him and refuted the heresy with the teachings of the [[Ecumenical Councils]]. He affirmed moreover, that the [[Desert Fathers|desert-dwellers]] and [[monks]] would firmly support the Orthodox teaching. The emperor showed restraint for a short while, but then he renewed his persecution of the Orthodox. The holy [[Elder]] then showed great zeal for the truth. Leaving the monastery, he came to [[Jerusalem]] and in the church, he stood at the high place and cried out for all to hear: ''"Whoever does not honor the four [[Ecumenical Councils]], let him be [[anathema]]!"'' For this bold deed the monk was sent to prison, but soon returned after the death of the emperor.

===Miracles===
St Theodosius accomplished many healings and other [[Miracle|miracles]] during his life. God granted him the gift of working miracles by which he was able to heal the sick, to appear from a distance, to tame wild beasts, to discern the future and to cause bread and wheat to multiply. [[Prayer]] was on his lips day and night. 

Through his prayers he once destroyed the locusts devastating the fields in Palestine. Also by his intercession, soldiers were saved from death, and he also saved those perishing in shipwrecks and those lost in the desert.

Once, the saint gave orders to strike the [[w:Semandron|semandron]] (a piece of wood hit with a mallet), so that the brethren would gather at [[prayer]]. He told them, ''"The wrath of God draws near the East."'' After several days it became known that a strong earthquake had destroyed the city of [[Antioch]] at the very hour when the saint had summoned the brethren to prayer.

===Death===
Before his death, St Theodosius summoned to him three beloved [[bishops]] and revealed to them that he would soon depart to the Lord. After three days, he died peacefully at the age of 105, in 529 AD. The saint's body was buried with reverence in his first cell, the cave in which he lived at the beginning of his ascetic deeds.

==Hymns==
'''Troparion - Tone 8'''<br>
By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,<br>
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.<br>
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!<br>
Our Father Theodosius, pray to [[Christ]] God to save our souls!

'''Kontakion - Tone 8'''<br>
Planted in the courts of your Lord, you blossomed beautifully with virtue,<br>
and increased your children in the desert, showering them with streams of<br>
your tears, O chief shepherd of the divine flock of God.<br>
Therefore, we cry to you: "Rejoice, Father Theodosius."

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Image:St-Theodosius-Monastery-Holy-Land2.JPG|<small>Monastery of Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch, Holy Land</small>
Image:St-Theodosius-Monastery-Holy-Land.JPG|<small>Monastery of Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch, Holy Land</small>
Image:Burial-crypte-thodosius-palestine.JPG|<small>The burial crypt of Monastery of Saint Theodosius the Great, Holy Land</small>
Image:Theodosius-Cenobiarch-tomb.JPG|<small>The tomb of St Theodosius the Cenobiarch, in the burial crypt of his monastery</small>
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[Pachomius the Great]]

==Notes==
<references group="note" />

==Sources==
* ''[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?SID=4&ID=1&FSID=100149 Venerable Theodosius the Great, the Cenobiarch].'' OCA - Feasts and Saints.
* Bp. [[Nikolai Velimirovic]]. ''[http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/prolog.cgi Venerable Theodosius the Great (The Cenobirach)].'' The [[Prologue from Ohrid]].
* Great [[Synaxarion|Synaxaristes]]: {{el icon}} ''[http://www.synaxarion.gr/gr/sid/1695/sxsaintinfo.aspx Ὁ Ὅσιος Θεοδόσιος ὁ Κοινοβιάρχης καὶ Καθηγητὴς τῆς Ἐρήμου].'' 11 Ιανουαρίου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
*  Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). ''[http://www.bartleby.com/210/1/111.html St. Theodosius the Cenobiarch, Abbot].'' The Lives of the Saints. Volume I: January. 1866. (Bartleby.com).
: (''From his life by Theodoras, bishop of Petra, some time his disciple, in Surius and Bollandus, and commended by Fleury, Baillet, &c.'')

[[Category:Asceticism]]
[[Category:Desert Fathers]]
[[Category:Elders]]
[[Category:Monastics]]
[[Category:Saints]]
[[Category:Byzantine Saints]]
[[Category:Wonderworkers]]
[[Category:6th-century saints]]

[[ro:Teodosie cel Mare, începătorul vieţii de obşte]]