Venerable (Monastic) 10th century

Venerable Theodore of Cythera

c. 870/890 – 922

Also known as Theodore of Kythera

Born at Koroni in Messenia, he lived as a hermit on the island of Kythera, where he reposed in 922; the islands monastery bears his name.

Feast Day

May 12

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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Theodore of Cythera

Life

Theodore of Cythera was a tenth-century hermit who lived in asceticism on the island of Kythera (Cythera) in the Aegean. Born in the southern Peloponnese, he settled in his later years on the then largely depopulated island, where he reposed in 922. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on May 12.

By tradition he was born at Koroni in southern Messenia sometime between about 870 and 890. He received his early education and was ordained a Reader under the Bishop of Koroni. Orphaned in his youth, he was raised by a priest in Nafplio. As an adult he married and had two children before being ordained a deacon by Bishop Theodore of Argos.

Seeking a more withdrawn life, Theodore left his family and traveled first to Rome and then to Monemvasia, where he stayed for a time in a cell of the Church of the Theotokos of Diakonia. He arrived on Kythera around 921 and lived in solitude within the ancient Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, sharing the island's isolation with a fellow ascetic named Anthony.

Timeline 5 moments Read Hide

c. 870–890 Born at Koroni Born at Koroni in southern Messenia in the Peloponnese; ordained a Reader under the Bishop of Koroni and later orphaned.
Adulthood Married and ordained deacon Married and had two children, and was ordained a deacon by Bishop Theodore of Argos before withdrawing to the ascetic life.
c. 921 Settles on Kythera Arrived on the island of Kythera from Monemvasia and lived as a hermit in the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus.
May 12, 922 Repose Reposed in peace; his incorrupt body was discovered some three years later by hunters from Monemvasia and buried near the church.
1630 Church founded in his honor Bishop Athanasius (Valerianos) of Kythira is reported to have founded a church in honor of the saint on the island.

Contributions & Legacy

2 contributions Read Hide

Hermitic Life on Kythera

Theodore came to Kythera from Monemvasia, and tradition connects his arrival on the island with the period following a Roman naval action in the surrounding waters. The island was at that time largely abandoned, and he took up residence in the ruined chapel of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, living there in ascetic solitude for roughly a year.

He reposed in peace on May 12, in the year generally given as 922. According to the account of his life, hunters from Monemvasia discovered his still-incorrupt body about three years after his death and buried him near the church where he had lived.

Relics & Shrines

Following the discovery of his relics on Kythera, the chapel where he had lived became a center of his veneration. By tradition the church was renamed in his honor, and a monastic community grew up around it; by 1695 the site is recorded as housing ten nuns' cells.

In 1630 Bishop Athanasius (Valerianos) of Kythira is reported to have founded a church in honor of the saint. The Holy Monastery of St. Theodore, built over the original small chapel, stands near the village of Aroniadika on Kythera and continues to bear his name.

Notes

A tenth-century hermit, not a New Martyr.

Sources: GOARCH calendar; OCA / J. Sanidopoulos cross-check