Venerable (Monastic) 17th century

Saint Theodora of Sihla

c. 1650 – early 18th century

Also known as Teodora of Sihla

A Romanian woman who, after marriage, withdrew to the wilderness of Sihla, where she lived in a cave in extreme austerity, fed in her last days by a raven.

Feast Day

August 7

Draft

Draft — pending review. Not yet verified for publication.

Hymn / Apolytikion Icon gallery Video / Media

Commemorated as

Our Venerable Mother Theodora of Sihla

Life

Saint Theodora of Sihla was a Romanian ascetic of the seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries who, after a childless marriage, embraced monastic life and ultimately withdrew to a cave on Mount Sihla in the Neamt region, where she lived for many years in extreme austerity. She is honored as the first Romanian woman to be formally canonized as a saint.

Born around 1650 in the village of Vanatori in Neamt County, she was the daughter of Stephen (Stefan) Joldea, by tradition the chief armourer of the Neamt Citadel. Her life moved from an arranged marriage to the eremitic solitude of the Carpathian wilderness, and her relics were eventually carried far from her homeland to the Kiev Caves Monastery, where she became known as Saint Theodora of the Carpathians.

Timeline 6 moments Read Hide

c. 1650 Birth in Vanatori Theodora was born in the village of Vanatori in Neamt County during the first half of the seventeenth century, the daughter of Stephen Joldea and his wife.
Youth Marriage and turn to monasticism Married in her youth, she remained childless. By tradition she and her husband mutually resolved to enter monastic life; her husband was tonsured under the name Eleutherius and became known as Eleutherios the Hesychast, while she was tonsured at the Skete of Poiana Marului.
Late 17th century Withdrawal to Sihla Following the disruption of monastic life by Turkish invasions and the death of her spiritual mother, and guided by Hieromonk Barsanuphius of the Sihastria Skete, she withdrew to the wilderness of Mount Sihla, occupying a hermit's cell and later a remote cave.
Early 18th century Repose in her cave After long years of solitary asceticism she received the Holy Mysteries, confessed her life, and reposed in her cave during the first decade of the eighteenth century, where she was buried.
c. 1828–1834 Translation of relics to Kyiv During the Russian occupation of the Romanian Principalities her relics were transferred to the Kiev Caves Monastery, where she came to be venerated as Saint Theodora of the Carpathians.
June 20, 1992 Canonization She was formally canonized (glorified) by the Synod of the Romanian Orthodox Church, becoming the first Romanian woman to be canonized as a saint.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributions Read Hide

Life in the Wilderness

After embracing the monastic life, Theodora sought ever greater solitude. According to her vita, the destruction of her monastery by Turkish forces and the death of her spiritual mother led her, on the counsel of Hieromonk Barsanuphius of the Sihastria Skete, to take up the life of a hermit in the Neamt mountains. She first lived in a cell left by an elderly monk in a rocky part of Sihla, but when others fleeing the invasions discovered her, she relinquished it and moved into a more remote cave.

Her asceticism was severe. The tradition relates that she kept all-night vigils with upraised arms, that her garments wore away to rags, and that she subsisted on wild herbs and rainwater from a spring that still bears her name. She lived in this manner in near-total isolation for many years.

Miracles and Traditional Accounts

By tradition, when provisions failed, she was fed in her last days through divine providence: a bird carried bread to her cave from the nearby Sihastria Skete. The monks, noticing a bird repeatedly taking bread, followed it and discovered the hermitess at prayer beside a fir tree, said to be radiant with light and raised above the ground.

The synaxarion relates that she then asked for the Holy Mysteries, made a confession of her whole life to a priest, received communion, and departed with the words 'Glory to God for all things.' After her repose her relics were reported to be incorrupt, and miracles were said to take place before them.

Relics and Veneration

Theodora was buried in the cave where she had lived. Around 1828 to 1834, during the Russian occupation of the Romanian Principalities, her relics were translated to the Kiev Caves Monastery (the Pechersk Lavra), where she is venerated as Saint Theodora of the Carpathians.

She is commemorated as the first Romanian woman to be formally canonized, glorified by the Romanian Orthodox Church on June 20, 1992. Sihla Monastery, associated with her memory, stands in the region of her hermitage. Her feast is kept on August 7.

Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints