Venerable Theodore of Sanaksar (in the world, the nobleman Ivan Ignatievich Ushakov) was born in 1718 (some sources give 1719) in the Yaroslavl province. In his youth he was assigned to military service in the Guards’ Preobrazhensky Regiment in Saint Petersburg and was soon promoted to sergeant. A sudden event became the turning point in his life: during a noisy gathering of the guardsmen, one of the young men unexpectedly fell down dead. Seeing a comrade die “without repentance,” Ivan deeply realized how fragile worldly well-being is. At the age of twenty he left his life in the capital and chose the path of a hermit.

For more than three years the future ascetic lived in solitude in the northern forests on the banks of the Northern Dvina, and later in the Ploshchanskaya Hermitage in Oryol province. Since he lived without documents, he was detained by a search party and brought to Saint Petersburg. Six years of hardship changed him beyond recognition: he was emaciated, clothed in a hairshirt, yet what struck people most was the depth of his humility. Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, having learned the circumstances, did not count his “flight” as an offense and was prepared to restore his former rank, but Ioann asked only one thing—to “be allowed to die a monk.” After three years of probation in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, on August 13, 1748, he was tonsured a monk with the name Theodore.

The venerable one longed for the monastery of Sarov, and in 1757 he left Petersburg together with some disciples, both men and women. He placed the women disciples in the St. Nicholas Convent in Arzamas, and later they were transferred to the Alexeyevskaya community, where they lived in strict observance of the rule given by the elder. Father Theodore himself, together with his male disciples, settled in the Sarov Hermitage.

Two years later the elder resolved to restore the impoverished Sanaksar Monastery near Temnikov on the Moksha River. When he arrived, the monastery was in extreme decline: the church was dilapidated, and the cells and enclosure were almost in ruins. With the help of benefactors and with the support of the diocesan authorities, the monastery began to revive. Bishop Pachomius of Tambov earnestly asked the venerable one to accept the priesthood and become abbot; out of humility he refused for a long time, but on December 13, 1762, he was ordained a hieromonk.

Venerable Theodore’s abbacy was marked by strictness and inner attentiveness. About nine hours a day were devoted to services, and on Sundays and feast days ten or more; all-night vigils could last up to twelve hours. The elder demanded distinct, unhurried reading, so that the meaning of the services would be clear to those praying. He considered personal spiritual guidance and the “full confession of thoughts” the firmest foundation of monastic life: any brother could come to the abbot by day or by night, and after a conversation would leave with a sense of “freedom and quiet” in the soul. Food in the monastery was plain and coarse, and everyone carried obediences, including the abbot himself; avoiding vanity, he did not set himself apart either by exceptional austerities or by special comforts.

A tradition is connected with the renewal of Sanaksar: when the foundations of a stone church were being laid, during a moleben a swarm of bees flew in and settled on the place of the future altar—taken as a sign of grace and the increase of the братия (the monastic brotherhood). From that time the monastery kept its own bees and maintained an apiary.

Yet the venerable one was also to endure a severe trial. In 1774, on the basis of a false denunciation by the Temnikov voevoda Neelov, he was exiled to the Solovetsky Monastery. On the way to interrogations Father Theodore stopped at the Zadonsk Monastery to see Saint Tikhon, who received him with great love; several days of spiritual conversation followed, and at their parting the hierarch escorted the venerable elder to the gates, bowing low. On Solovki Father Theodore spent nine years in strict confinement, suffering poverty, cold, and illness; yet his disciples and the sisters of the community he had founded did not abandon their beloved наставник (spiritual father), supporting him and asking for his prayers.

Through the intercession of Metropolitan Gabriel of Saint Petersburg and by order of Empress Catherine II, the elder was granted full freedom and returned to Sanaksar, where he continued to labor for the brethren and for those who came to him. After a brief illness, Venerable Theodore reposed in the night of February 19, 1791. It is recorded that his body, though kept in a warm cell until burial, did not emit the odor of decay. He was buried by the church he had built; a stone slab was laid on his grave bearing an inscription about his life and labors as the restorer of the monastery.

The venerable one’s nephew was the renowned naval commander Admiral Fyodor Ushakov. In retirement he also lived near Sanaksar Monastery, reposed in 1817, and was buried beside his uncle. The Russian Orthodox Church venerates both of them among the saints.

The memory of Venerable Theodore of Sanaksar is celebrated on the day of his repose—February 19 (March 4 in the New Style; in leap years, March 3), and also on the day of the discovery of his much-healing relics—April 21 (May 4, New Style). Today the relics of the venerable one rest in the cathedral Church of Saint John the Forerunner at Sanaksar Monastery.