Venerable Martyr Theodosia of Constantinople (730)

The Venerable Martyr Theodosia of Constantinople (+730) lived in the eighth century. After the death of her parents she was brought up in the convent of the holy Martyr Anastasia in Constantinople, and later became a nun. The saint gave away the property she had inherited to the poor, and with part of the money had icons painted of the Saviour, the Mother of God and Saint Anastasia. As soon as he came to the throne, Leo the Isaurian (717–741) issued a decree demanding the destruction of the holy icons. At that time there was a gate in Constantinople over which a bronze icon of the Saviour had stood for more than four hundred years. In 730 the iconoclast false patriarch Anastasius ordered the icon to be taken down. The Orthodox, led by Saint Theodosia, stood up courageously to defend it. Frightened by the unrest of the people, the false patriarch reported what had happened to the emperor. By order of Leo the Isaurian the nuns were slaughtered, and their leader, Saint Theodosia, was thrown into prison. For seven days the saint was tortured, and on the eighth day she was led out into the city and tortured to death. The Christians buried with great honour the venerable martyr’s body, which had been thrown into the street, in the Dexiocrates monastery in Constantinople. Many healings took place at her tomb.