Who is St. Theodore
Also know as Theodore of Studium and Theodore of Studios. He was born in 759 to a very distinguished family and Theodore, the eldest, and his two brothers were highly educated. He followed the footsteps of his uncle and brother who became priests and stayed in the religious world as a monk who insisted on following traditions from his religious beliefs. This lead him to questioning the divorce and remarriage of Emperor Constantine VI and was banished from Constantinople. He then returned after the emperor’s overthrow until he took charge over a monastery university at Constantinople. He had excellent organization of the monk school and clarified many of the rules that were modeled for much of the Byzantine monastic world.
Theodore was exiled a second time when the argument of adulterers came up and he was considered the head of the Orthodox church in the area. The exile was recalled but Theodore still held his ideals so he was treated with great cruelty and exiled again. Even in banishment, his legacy was argued and continued by others. With new leaders of the country they did recall the exiles but didn’t recall the laws of his predecessor. Theodore continued to struggle and did not return to the school.
He was known as a practical yet fiery, high spirit. He was also creative and wrote hymns and many of his writings are still unprinted or still exist in Old Slavonic and Russian translations. Theodore died on November 11, 826.