On September 11 we honor the memory of a saint whose difficult and tumultuous life path is an example of humility, repentance and strong faith.
In the 5th century, a young and beautiful woman named Theodora lived in Alexandria. She was happily married, but it so happened that she cheated on her husband. The day after the infidelity, young Theodora was so fat and ashamed of her act that she went to the abbess of a nearby monastery to seek advice. After the conversation with the abbess, Saint Theodora decided that she would become a monk in the men's monastery, which was located about 18 km from the young woman's home.
Said – done. Early in the morning, Saint Theodora's husband left for work, and she cut her wild hair and dressed as a man headed for the men's monastery. She knocked on the front door. It was already evening. The porter called the abbot that a young man wanted to enter the monastery.
The abbot refused to receive Saint Theodora that very night. He ordered the young man to sleep outside the gates of the Holy Abode. During the night, various demons roamed around the young woman, but Saint Theodora was not frightened. The next morning she was received among the monastic brotherhood under the name Theodore. The monks were amazed at the zeal of the young monk, with which he prayed, made prostrations and observed all the monastery rules.
It's been 8 years. The abbot of the monastery sent Saint Theodora to the city to buy wheat for the Holy Monastery. He ordered the monk, if he was late, to sleep in the monastery near the city. That is exactly what happened, but Saint Theodora did not suspect that a very unpleasant incident would happen to her in the other monastery. The abbot's niece was in the monastery and seeing the young monk Theodore, she fell in love with him and desired him. She began courting the monk, and Saint Theodora had no way of revealing that he was not a man. However, she managed to fend off the lustful intruder.
Nine months passed and the abbot's niece appeared in the monastery where Saint Theodora lived and declared that the baby she had brought was from the monk Theodora. The abbot did not believe the explanations and drove Saint Theodora and the baby out of the monastery. She settled in a hut nearby. She could not hide in the nearby forest or in the desert because beasts lived there. Shepherds lived next to the hut and gave milk for the baby to live. The monks constantly mocked the monk for the sin he did not commit.
7 years passed. The abbot received a hint from Above that Saint Theodora was not the father of the baby and he returned the monk to the monastery. They placed the child and the supposed monk in the same cell. Past years. There was a terrible drought. All the rivers and lakes around dried up. The abbot sent Saint Theodora to a well that was said to never run dry. On the way to the well, Saint Theodora constantly prayed to the Most High that there would be water in the well. When she arrived, it was full of clean water. When she took it to the monks, she said that the well had not dried up, thanks to the abbot's prayers.
More years passed, the last days of Saint Theodora came. After saying goodbye to the boy she had cared for for so many years, Saint Theodora gave up her soul to God. The abbot had a vision that the monk Theodore was actually a woman. He decided to check the lifeless body and when he saw the woman's breasts, he began to sob because he realized that he had unjustly driven away the righteous woman with the baby. The boy that Saint Theodora cared for grew up and became a monk named Theodore. Years later, he was elected abbot of the same monastery.
Name day celebrated by: Theodora, Teddy, Dora, Theodore, Theo