Saint Theodosius the New Healer of Peloponnese

Monastic life and ministry

The traditional life relates that Theodosius was an Athenian by origin who, on taking up the monastic life, divided his property among the poor and first settled near Athens; finding his solitude broken by the stream of those who sought his guidance, he withdrew to the greater quiet of the Argos region. There he is said to have come into conflict with the local bishop of Argos, an opposition that tradition recounts in vivid terms, including an episode in which live coals were placed in his censer or miter without burning him. By one account the bishop who came to investigate the accusations against him was Saint Peter of Argos, who, won over by the sign and by Theodosius's evident virtue, ordained him first deacon and then priest.

He is remembered for working many miracles during his life and for foreseeing his own peaceful death. A monastery bearing his name was established in the Argolid near Panariti; a local account dates its foundation to 880. After a period of desertion the house was revived in the early sixteenth century, and in 1942 it was given over to nuns and became a convent.

Veneration as a healer

Theodosius is invoked above all as a healer, and his tomb is described in the tradition as a source of cures. A story preserved in the local veneration tells of Turks who mocked his relics and were met by a supernatural visitation, after which they returned what they had taken to his church and sought forgiveness. The persistence of this reputation for healing, more than any detailed record of his deeds, is what carried his memory forward.