Synaxarion of Saint Theodore the Studite

On the eleventh of this month [November], we commemorate our Venerable Father Theodore the Abbot of Studios and Confessor.

Verses

Like the change of many garments, thrice-blessed Theodore,

Your life changed, in expectation of life.

Theodore was born during the reign of Constantine Copronymos (741-775), from pious parents called Photeinos and Theoktiste. As a child he preferred the virtuous life, and having been sufficiently educated in sacred letters, he was elevated to the uttermost heights of knowledge. For this reason he became a Monk, attaining every form of virtue, and he was honored with the grace of the priesthood from Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople. Since Venerable Platon, who was the Abbot of Stoudios Monastery and the uncle of the Saint, left the abbacy, it was given over to blessed Theodore. Thus he guided well the flock of Monks entrusted to him, and he shepherded them to the pastures of salvation.

The Relics of St. John the Forerunner and Baptist

Right hand of St. John the Baptist at Dionysiou Monastery

By Prof. Anthony Markou

Brief Life: The greatest of the Prophets of the Old and New Testaments. "He showed himself to be the most-revered of the Prophets, having been made worthy to baptize in the waters the One he proclaimed."

According to the tradition of the Church, he was the fruit of the prayers of his righteous parents, the Prophet Zechariah and Saint Elizabeth, "born through divine announcement and promise." Before his birth, he venerated the unborn Christ "by leaping in the womb of his mother," when the Virgin Mary met her cousin Elizabeth in mountainous Judea; and upon his birth he released his father from silence!

During the persecution of Herod and the slaughter of 14,000 infants, his mother fled to the desert with her young child John. John lived there for about thirty years of his life, clothed in camel's hair and feeding on wild honey and the shoots of plants. There he prepared for the appearance and work of Christ, by preaching: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." He baptized Christ in the Jordan River.

The Historical Development of Holy Week Services In Orthodoxy

The Paschal fast of Holy Week1 is the most ancient part of the Great Fast.2 It is already well attested by the second century, in conjunction with the rites of Christian initiation through baptism. At first spanning one or two days, the fast lengthened to four and then to a full six already by the third century. With the conversion of Constantine, the ensuing flood of people desiring to enter the Faith and imperial interest in holy places, the fourth century witnessed tremendous development in ritual for Holy Week. This evolutionary process continued in the middle ages and shows itself even in our own time.