Icon of Saint Theodore the Studite (Mosaic) (Nea Moni, Chios, 11th c.) – S102

Description

Saint Theodore was born in a most pious family in Constantinople in a.d. 759, and was well educated, especially in Orthodox Christian theology.  By the influence of his uncle Platon, who had been a monk in Bythnia since the year of  Theodore’s birth, the entire family decided to take monastic vows.  Theodore’s mother, Theoktiste, who was the sister of Platon, made their family estate a monastery called Sakkudion, with Platon as its head.

In a.d. 794, Saint Theodore became the acting head of this monastery.  Saint Theodore was steeped in the active theological experience of deep monastic fasting, prayers, and interior life, from which he learned practical theology as well as the theoretical theology of his earlier education.  With this deep knowledge he was able to well discern the events and issues around him.  He condemned innovations, irregularities, and the new wave of Iconoclastic persecutions by Emperors, Patriarchs, and clergy, and  was persecuted for it.  He refounded the Studion Monastery in a.d. 798 near Constantinople from where he wrote profusely, including monastic regulations, poems, and theology.  He died in a.d. 826.