ST. THEODOSIUS was born at Mogariassus, called in latter ages Marissa,
in Cappadocia, in 423. He imbibed the first tincture of virtue from the
fervent example and pious instructions of his virtuous parents. He was
ordained reader, but some time after being moved by Abraham's example to
quit his country and friends, he resolved to put this motion in
execution. He accordingly set out for Jerusalem, but went purposely out
of his road, to visit the famous St. Simeon Stylites on his pillar, who
foretold him several circumstances of his life, and gave him proper
instructions for his behavior in each. Having satisfied his devotion in
visiting the holy places in Jerusalem, he began to consider in what
manner he should dedicate himself to God in a religious state. The
dangers of living without a guide, made him prefer a monastery to a
hermitage; and he therefore put himself under the direction of a holy
man named Longinus, to whom his virtue soon endeared him in a very
particular manner. A pious lady having built a church under the
invocation of the Blessed Virgin, on the high road to Bethlehem,
Longinus could not well refuse her request, that his pupil should
undertake the charge of it; but Theodosius, who loved only to obey,
could not be induced by any entreaties to consent to this proposal:
absolute commands were necessary to force him to a compliance. Nor did
he govern long; for dreading the poison of vanity from the esteem of
men, he retired into a cave at the top of a neighboring desert mountain,
and employed his time in fasting, watching, prayers, and tears, which
almost continually flowed from his eyes. His food was coarse pulse and
wild herbs: for thirty years he never tasted so much as a morsel of
bread. Many desired to serve God under his direction: he at first
determined only to admit six or seven, but was soon obliged to receive a
greater number, and at length came to a resolution, which charity
extorted from him, never to reject any that presented themselves with
dispositions that seemed sincere. The first lesson which he taught his
monks was, that the continual remembrance of death is the foundation of
religious perfection; to imprint this more deeply in their minds, he
caused a great grave or pit to be dug, which might serve for the common
burial-place of the whole community, that by the presence of this
memorial of death, and by continually meditating on that object, they
might more perfectly learn to die daily. The burial-place being made,
the abbot one day, when he had led his monks to it, said, "The grave is
made, who will first perform the dedication?" Basil, a priest, who was
one of the number, falling on his knees, said to St. Theodosius, "I am
the person, be pleased to give me your blessing." The abbot ordered the
prayers of the church for the dead to be offered up for him, and on the
fortieth day, Basil wonderfully departed to our Lord in peace, without
any apparent sickness. When the holy company of disciples were twelve in
number, it happened that at the great feast of Easter they had nothing
to eat; they had not even bread for the sacrifice: some murmured; the
saint bid them trust {125} in God and he would provide: which was soon
remarkably verified, by the arrival of certain mules loaded with
provisions. The lustre of the sanctity and miracles of St. Theodosius,
drawing great numbers to him who desired to serve God under his
direction, his cave was too little for their reception; therefore,
having consulted heaven by prayer, he, by its particular direction,
built a spacious monastery at a place called Cathismus, not far from
Bethlehem, at a small distance from his cave, and it was soon filled
with holy monks. To this monastery were annexed three infirmaries; one
for the sick, the gift of a pious lady in that neighborhood; the two
others St. Theodosius built himself, one for the aged and feeble, the
other for such as had been punished with the loss of their senses, or by
falling under the power of the devil, for rashly engaging in a religious
state through pride, and without a due dependence on the grace of God to
carry them through it. All succors, spiritual and temporal, were
afforded in these infirmaries, with admirable order, care, and
affection. He erected also several buildings for the reception of
strangers, in which he exercised an unbounded hospitality, entertaining
all that came, for whose use there were one day above a hundred tables
served with provisions: these, when insufficient for the number of
guests, were more than once miraculously multiplied by his prayers. The
monastery itself was like a city of saints in the midst of a desert, and
in it reigned regularity, silence, charity, and peace. There were four
churches belonging to it, one for each of the three several nations of
which his community was chiefly composed, each speaking a different
language; the fourth was for the use of such as were in a state of
penance, which those that recovered from their lunatic or possessed
condition before, mentioned, were put into, and detained till they had
expiated their fault. The nations into which his community was divided,
were the Greeks, which were far the most numerous, and consisted of all
those that came from any provinces of the empire; the Armenians, with
whom were joined the Arabians and Persians; and, thirdly, the Bessi, who
comprehended all the northern nations below Thrace, or all who used the
Runic or Sclavonian tongue. Each nation sung the first part of the mass
to the end of the gospel, in their own church, but after the gospel, all
met in the church of the Greeks, where they celebrated the essential
part of the sacrifice in Greek and communicated all together.[1]
The monks passed a considerable part of the day and night at their
devotions in the church, and at the times not set apart for public
prayer and necessary rest, every one was obliged to apply himself to
some trade, of manual labor, not incompatible with recollection, that
the house might be supplied with conveniences. Sallust, bishop of
Jerusalem, appointed St. Sabas superior general of the hermits, and our
saint of the Cenobites, or religious men living in community throughout
all Palestine, whence he was styled the Cenobiarch. These two great
servants of God lived in strict friendship, and had frequent spiritual
conferences together; they were also united in their zeal and sufferings
for the church.
The emperor Anastasius patronized the Eutychian heresy, and used all
possible means to engage our saint in his party. In 513 he deposed
Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem, as he had banished Flavian II., patriarch
of Antioch, and intruded Severus, an impious heretic, into that see,
commanding the Syrians to obey and hold communion with him. SS.
Theodosius and Sabas maintained boldly the right of Elias, and of John
his successor; whereupon the imperial officers thought it most advisable
to connive at their proceedings, considering the great authority they
had acquired by {126} their sanctity. Soon after, the emperor sent
Theodosius a considerable sum of money, for charitable uses in
appearance, but in reality to engage him in his interest. The saint
accepted of it, and distributed it all among the poor. Anastasius now
persuading himself that he was as good as gained over to his cause, sent
him an heretical profession of faith, in which the divine and human
natures in Christ were confounded into one, and desired him to sign it.
The saint wrote him an answer full of apostolic spirit; in which,
besides solidly confuting the Eutychian error, he added, that he was
ready to lay down his life for the faith of the church. The emperor
admired his courage and the strength of his reasoning, and returning him
a respectful answer, highly commended his generous zeal, made some
apology for his own inconsiderateness, and protested that he only
desired the peace of the church. But it was not long ere he relapsed
into his former impiety and renewed his bloody edicts against the
orthodox, dispatching troops everywhere to have them put in execution.
On the first intelligence of this, Theodosius went over all the deserts
and country of Palestine, exhorting every one to be firm in the faith of
the four general councils. At Jerusalem, having assembled the people
together, he from the pulpit cried out with a loud voice: "If any one
receives not the four general councils as the four gospels, let him be
anathema." So bold an action in a man of his years, inspired with
courage those whom the edicts had terrified. His discourses had a
wonderful effect on the people, and God gave a sanction up his zeal by
miracles: one of these was, that on his going out of the church at
Jerusalem, a woman was healed of a cancer on the spot, by only touching
his garments. The emperor sent an order for his banishment, which was
executed; but dying soon after, Theodosius was recalled by his Catholic
successor, Justin; who, from a common soldier, had gradually ascended
the imperial throne.
Our saint survived his return eleven years, never admitting the least
relaxation in his former austerities. Such was his humility, that seeing
two monks at variance with each other, he threw himself at their
feet, and could not rise till they were perfectly reconciled; and once
having excommunicated one of his subjects for a crime, who
contumaciously pretended to excommunicate him in his turn, the saint
behaved as if he had been really excommunicated, to gain the sinner's
soul by this unprecedented example of submission, which had the desired
effect. During the last year of his life he was afflicted with a painful
distemper, in which he gave proof of an heroic patience, and an entire
submission to the will of God; for being advised by one that was an
eye-witness of his great sufferings, to pray that God would be pleased
to grant him some ease, he would give no ear to it, alleging that such
thoughts were impatience, and would rob him of his crown. Perceiving the
hour of his dissolution at hand, he gave his last exhortation to his
disciples, and foretold many things, which accordingly came to pass
after his death: this happened in the one hundred and fifth year of his
age, and of our Lord 529. Peter, patriarch of Jerusalem, and the whole
country, assisted with the deepest sentiments of respect at the
solemnity of his interment, which was honored by miracles. He was buried
in his first cell, called the cave of the magi, because the wise men,
who came to adore Christ soon after his birth, were said to have lodged
in it. A certain count being on his march against the Persians, begged
the hair shirt which the saint used to wear next his skin, and believed
that he owed the victory which he obtained over them, to the saint's
protection through the pledge of that relic. Both the Roman and Greek
calendars mention his festival on the 11th of January.
{127}
* * * * *
The examples of the Nazarites and Essenes among the Jews, and of many
excellent and holy persons among the Christians through every age,
demonstrate that many are called by God to serve him in a retired
contemplative life; nay, it is the opinion of St. Gregory the Great,
that the world is to some persons so full of ambushes and snares, or
dangerous occasions of sin, that they cannot be saved but by choosing a
safe retreat. Those who from experience are conscious of their own
weakness, and find themselves to be no match for the world, unable to
countermine its policies, and oppose its power, ought to retire as from
the face of too potent an enemy; and prefer a contemplative state to a
busy and active life: not to indulge sloth, or to decline the service of
God and his neighbor, but to consult his own security, and to fly from
dangers of sin and vanity. Yet there are some who find the greatest
dangers in solitude itself; so that it is necessary for every one to
sound his own heart, take a survey of his own forces and abilities, and
consult God, that he may best he able to learn the designs of his
providence with regard to his soul; in doing which, a great purity of
intention is the first requisite. Ease and enjoyment must not be the end
of Christian retirement, but penance, labor, and assiduous
contemplation; without great fervor and constancy in which, close
solitude is the road to perdition. If greater safety, or an unfitness
for a public station, or a life of much business (in which several are
only public nuisances) may be just motives to some for embracing a life
of retirement, the means of more easily attaining to perfect virtue may
be such to many. Nor do true contemplatives bury their talents, or cease
either to be members of the republic of mankind, or to throw in their
mite towards its welfare. From the prayers and thanksgivings which they
daily offer to God for the peace of the world, the preservation of the
church, the conversion of sinners, and the salvation of all men,
doubtless more valuable benefits often accrue to mankind, than from the
alms of the rich, or the labors of the learned. Nor is it to be
imagined, how far and how powerfully their spirit, and the example of
their innocence and perfect virtue, often spread their influence; and
how serviceable persons who lead a holy and sequestered life may be to
the good of the world; nor how great glory redounds to God, by the
perfect purity of heart and charity to which many souls are thus raised.
Footnotes:
1. See Le Brun, Explic. des Ceremonies de la Messe, t. 4, pp. 234-235,
dissert. l. 4, art. 2.