(ABOUT A.D. 528.)
[Commemorated by the Greeks on this day. Not by the Westerns, though
the story is quoted by a great number of Latin writers.
Authority:--The Greek account by Eutychianus, who pretends to have
been a disciple of Theophilus, and declares that he relates what he
had seen with his own eyes, and heard from the mouth of Theophilus
himself. Metaphrastes embodied the narrative of Eutychianus in his
great collection of the Lives of the Saints. For a full account of
this strange story, see my "Myths of the Middle Ages."]
The following story must be received with caution. It has not received
the sanction of the Western Church, and is probably a mere religious
romance. It was very popular in the middle ages, and was frequently
represented in sculpture and stained glass.
A few years before the Persian invasion, in 538, there lived, in the
town of Adana in Cilicia, a priest named Theophilus, treasurer and
archdeacon. He lived in strict observance of all his religious duties,
was famous for his liberality to the poor, his sympathy with the
afflicted, his eloquence in the pulpit, his private devotion, and
severe asceticism. On the decease of the bishop, by popular
acclamation he was summoned to the episcopal oversight of the diocese,
but his deep humility urged him to refuse the office, even when it was
pressed upon him by the metropolitan. A stranger was raised to the
vacant seat, and the treasurer resumed the course of life he had
pursued for so many years with credit to himself and advantage to the
diocese, content in his own mind with having refused the office, which
might have aroused his pride, and which certainly would have
diminished his opportunities of self-sacrifice. Virtue invariably
arouses the spirit of detraction, and Theophilus, by his refusal of
the bishopric, was thrust into public notice, and attracted public
attention. The consequence was, that the evil-minded originated
slanders, which circulated widely, produced a revulsion of feeling
towards Theophilus, and, what was generally reported, was accepted as
substantially true. These stories reached the ears of the new bishop,
he sent for the archdeacon, and, without properly investigating the
charges, concluded he was guilty, and deprived him of his offices.
One would have supposed that the humility which had required the holy
man to refuse a mitre, would have rendered him callous to the voice of
slander, and have sustained him under deprivation. But the trial was
too great for his virtue. He brooded over the accusations raised
against him, and the wrongs inflicted upon him, till the whole object
of his desire became the clearing of his character. He sought every
available means of unmasking the calumnies of his malingers, and
exposing the falsity of the charges raised against him. But he found
himself unable to effect his object; one man is powerless against a
multitude, and slander is a hydra which, when maimed in one head,
produces others in the place of that struck off. Baffled, despairing,
and without a friend to sustain his cause, the poor clerk sought
redress in a manner which, a month before, would have filled him with
horror. He visited a necromancer, who led him at midnight to a place
where four cross-roads met, and there conjured up Satan, who promised
to reinstate Theophilus in all his offices, and, what he valued more,
to completely clear his character. The priest, to obtain these boons,
signed away his soul with a pen dipped in his own blood, and abjured
for ever Jesus Christ and His spotless Mother.
On the morrow, the bishop, discovering his error, how we know not,
sent for Theophilus, and acknowledged publicly that he had been misled
by false reports, the utter valuelessness of which he was ready
frankly to acknowledge; and he asked pardon of the priest, for having
unjustly deprived him of his office. The populace enthusiastically
reversed their late opinion of the treasurer, and greeted him as a
Saint and confessor.
For some days all went well, and in the excitement of a return to his
former occupations, the compact he had made was forgotten. But after a
while, as reason and quietness resumed their sway, the conscience of
Theophilus gave him no rest. His face lost its colour, his brow was
seamed with wrinkles, an unutterable horror gleamed out of his
deep-set eyes. Hour by hour he prayed, but found no relief. At length
he resolved on a solemn fast of forty days. This he accomplished,
praying nightly in the Church of the Blessed Virgin, till the grey of
morning stole in at the little window of the dome, and obscured the
lamps. On the fortieth night, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him, and
rebuked him for his sin. He implored her pardon and all-prevailing
intercession, and this she promised him. The following night she
re-appeared, and assured him that Christ had forgiven him at her
prayer. With a cry of joy he awoke; and on his breast lay the deed
which had made over his soul to Satan, obtained from the evil one by
the mercy of the holy Mother of God.
The next day was Sunday. He rose, spent some time in acts of
thanksgiving, and then went to church, where the divine liturgy was
being celebrated. After the reading of the Gospel, he flung himself at
the bishop's feet, and requested permission to make his confession in
public. Then he related the circumstances of his fall, and showed the
contract signed with his blood to the assembled multitude. Having
finished his confession, he prostrated himself before the bishop, and
asked for absolution. The deed was torn and burned before the people.
He was reconciled, and received the blessed Sacrament; after which he
returned to his house in a fever, and died at the expiration of three
days. The story is probably a mere religious romance.