- St Theodosius, abbot of the Kyiv Caves Monastery and founder of cenobitic monasticism in Rus' (1074).
- "Our righteous Father Theodosius was born in 1009, not far from
Kyiv, and brought up in Kursk. From early childhood he showed the
wisdom of an elder, avoiding childish games and refusing to wear
anything but the poorest of clothing. When he was about thirteen years
old, and his father died, he began to humble himself even more, going
out to work with the serfs in the field. His mother went so far as to
beat him in her attempts to make him behave more respectably. Hearing
of the labours of Saint Anthony of Kyiv, he fled to him secretly and was
accepted by him as his disciple. He was tonsured at the age of
twenty-four by Saint Anthony's disciple Nicon, and was elected Abbot of
the Caves Monastery in 1057, since Saint Anthony refused this out of
humility, and lived his whole life as a hermit. It was Saint Theodosius
who introduced in Kyiv Rus the cenobitic rule of the Monastery of Studium
in Constantinople, and under his guidance many monks attained to great
holiness, and the monastic life spread. When Prince Svyatoslav drove
out his elder brother the pious Prince Isyaslav, and ascended to the
throne of Chernigiv in his place, Saint Theodosius courageously rebuked
him, and continued reproving him even when threatened with exile. At
the request of Prince Shimon, the son of a Varangian (Viking) prince,
the Saint wrote a prayer for the nobleman's forgiveness of sins, and, at
his behest, had it placed in his coffin, whence arose this custom in
Rus. He reposed on May 3, 1074, being sixty-five years of age." (Great Horologion)
- Martyrs Timothy the Reader and his wife Maura of Antinoe in Egypt (286)
- These holy martyrs were husband and wife. During the persecutions of
Diocletian, the governor Arian demanded that Timothy hand over his
sacred books (these were rare at that time, and as a Reader he was
entrusted with their care). Timothy refused, saying that he would no
more do so than a father would hand over his own children to death. He
was brutally tortured and, when he refused to yield, the governor
summoned Timothy's wife Maura, thinking that she would urge her husband
to bow to the idols, but instead she confessed herself to be a Christian
too. She in turn was subjected to many tortures, and finally the couple
were crucified facing one another, where they hung for nine days,
encouraging one another in the Faith, before they met their blessed end.
They had been married for less than a month when they received their
crowns.
source: http://www.abbamoses.com
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