saint
St. Theodore the Sykeote, Bishop of Anastasiopolis
Galatian monk who took up the ascetic life from boyhood in a cave at Sykeon, became a renowned wonderworker and healer, accepted the episcopate of Anastasiopolis under pressure, and finally resigned to die in the little hermitage where his vocation had first taken root.
Life
Theodore was born in the middle of the sixth century in the small Galatian village of Sykeon, of a Christian mother who had vowed her child to God before his birth. He entered monastic life at twelve at a small hermitage outside his village, was tonsured a monk in his teens, and lived for many years in a cave with chains binding him to the rock above his head — a particularly severe form of the Eastern ascetic discipline.
In middle life he was consecrated, against his own wishes, bishop of Anastasiopolis in Galatia — a position he held for some years before being permitted, by a special imperial decree, to return to his cave. He continued to govern his diocese from the cave through letters and through occasional visits to the city, but he lived as a hermit until his death.
He was credited with the gift of prophecy and a particular gift of healing; the imperial court, including the future Emperor Heraclius, came to him for counsel on multiple occasions. He died in peace in his cave around 613. His feast falls on April 22.
Traditions
Feast day
April 22
Topics
Works in library