Cloud of Witnesses
Hierarch 7th century

Modestos of Jerusalem

died c. 634

Also known as Modestos the Patriarch

Patriarch of Jerusalem invoked for the health of livestock.

Feast Day
December 18
Draft
Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.
Hymn / Apolytikion Icon gallery Video / Media
Commemorated as

Our Father among the Saints Modestos, Archbishop of Jerusalem

Come to them for
Animals / Livestock
Farming / Crops

Life

Modestos was a seventh-century archbishop of Jerusalem, commemorated on December 18, who governed the Church of the Holy City in the difficult years after the Persian sack of Jerusalem and the captivity of its patriarch. By tradition he was born into a Christian family at Sebasteia in Cappadocia, in Asia Minor, and from his youth was drawn to the monastic life. He received monastic tonsure and in time became superior of the Monastery of Saint Theodosius the Great in Palestine.

In 614 the armies of the Persian ruler Chosroes overran Syria and Palestine, killing many Christians and destroying churches. Patriarch Zacharias of Jerusalem was carried off into captivity together with a multitude of the faithful and with the Cross of the Lord. In his absence Modestos was appointed to govern the Jerusalem Church as locum tenens of the patriarchal throne. With the help of Patriarch John the Merciful of Alexandria he set about restoring the devastated shrines of the city, among them the Tomb of the Lord, and he saw to the burial of the monks slain at the Monastery of Saint Sabbas.

After some fourteen years Patriarch Zacharias returned from captivity, bringing back the Cross of the Lord; and after his death Modestos was raised to the patriarchal throne in his own right. By the reckoning of his life he reposed at an advanced age in the year 634. He is venerated across the Orthodox world, and in popular devotion he is especially known as a protector and healer of animals, invoked for the health of livestock.

Timeline 4 moments Read Hide
  1. 614 Persian sack of Jerusalem The forces of Chosroes overran Palestine and carried Patriarch Zacharias and the Cross of the Lord into captivity.
  2. after 614 Locum tenens of Jerusalem Modestos governed the Jerusalem Church and restored its shrines, aided by John the Merciful of Alexandria.
  3. c. 632 Patriarch of Jerusalem After the return and death of Patriarch Zacharias, Modestos was raised to the patriarchal throne.
  4. c. 634 Repose Modestos reposed at an advanced age; his feast is kept on December 18.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

Governance During the Persian Crisis

The defining work of Modestos's episcopate was the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the catastrophe of 614. The Persian conquest had left the holy sites of the city ruined and its leading clergy and people deported. As locum tenens during the long captivity of Patriarch Zacharias, Modestos bore responsibility for the practical restoration of Christian life in the Holy Land.

His life records that the restoration was carried out with the material assistance of Saint John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria, who was renowned for his generosity. Among the shrines repaired was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Tomb of the Lord itself. Modestos is also remembered for gathering and burying the monks who had been killed at the Lavra of Saint Sabbas during the invasion.

Protector and Healer of Animals

Modestos is widely venerated as a patron and healer of animals, and a blessing for livestock is associated with his feast. The tradition rests on an account of a poor widow whose oxen, her sole livelihood, fell gravely ill. By the telling, she first appealed to the Holy Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian, who appeared to her in a dream and said that the grace to heal animals had not been granted to them but had been given by God to Modestos, the great bishop of Jerusalem.

In the same tradition Modestos directed that a cross be fashioned of iron, dipped in oil during the Divine Liturgy, and used to anoint the animals in the name of Christ, whereupon the oxen recovered. From this and similar accounts arose the custom of invoking him for the protection of livestock; a prayer for ailing or endangered animals attributed to Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite is recited by priests in connection with his commemoration.

His companions & kin
The patriarch carried into Persian captivity in 614, for whom Modestos governed as locum tenens.
Saint Zacharias Patriarch of Jerusalem
Aided the restoration of Jerusalem's shrines after the Persian invasion.
Saint John the Merciful Patriarch of Alexandria
In the tradition of the widow's oxen, they directed her to seek the healing of animals from Modestos.
Unmercenaries Cosmas and Damian of Asia
Founder of the Palestinian monastery of which Modestos became superior.
Venerable Theodosius the Cenobiarch
Notes

Blessing of animals read on his feast.

Sources: Synaxarion