The Church remembers St. Theodosius the Great

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The Monk Theodosius the Great was born in 424 in Cappadocia from pious parents. In his youth, Theodosius visited the Holy Land and saw St. Simeon Stylites, who blessed him and predicted his future pastoral ministry. Striving for a hermit's life, Saint Theodosius settled in Palestine in a deserted cave, in which, according to legend, three wise men who came to worship the Born Savior of the world spent the night. He lived there for 30 years in great abstinence and unceasing prayer. When those who wanted to live under his guidance gradually began to flock to the ascetic, and the cave could no longer accommodate the assembled monks, then, through the prayers of the Monk, the Lord indicated a place in the desert for the foundation of the monastery.
Soon, the later famous Monastery of St. Theodosius appeared here. The Lavra served her neighbors, helping all the poor and giving shelter to the wanderers. In the monastery, the Monk set up hospice houses and separate hospitals for monks and laity. Due to the fact that people from different countries gathered in the Lavra, the divine service was conducted in different languages — Greek, Georgian and Armenian. For the communion of the Holy Mysteries, everyone gathered in a large church, where divine services were conducted in Greek.
During the reign of Constantinople Emperor Anastasius (491-518), the heresy of Eutychius and Severus (the extreme current of Monophysitism) arose, which did not recognize either the sacraments or the priesthood. The emperor embraced false teaching, and the Orthodox began to suffer persecution. The Monk Theodosius firmly defended Orthodoxy and wrote a letter to the emperor, where he denounced it and refuted all heresies that had been committed and condemned by the Ecumenical Councils. The emperor resigned himself for a short time, and then resumed the persecution of the Orthodox. The holy elder then showed great zeal for the truth: leaving the monastery, he came to Jerusalem and, standing on a platform in the Great Church, proclaimed loudly: "Whoever does not honor the decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, let him be anathema." For this brave act, he was exiled to prison, and was released only after the death of the emperor.
During his lifetime, St. Theodosius performed many healings and other miracles, coming to the aid of those in need. He died in 529 at the age of 105. The saint's body was honorably buried in the cave in which he lived at the beginning of his asceticism.

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