Venerable Theodosius of the Caves (Translation of the Relics, 1091)

The Venerable Theodosius of the Caves was born in the village of Vasilevo, near Kiev, and while still a child moved with his family to Kursk. He early felt the pull towards the ascetic life; even in his parents’ house he lived ascetically: he avoided childish games and amusements, went constantly to church, listened attentively to the prayers, and gave away everything he had to the poor. The saint himself asked his mother and father to have him taught to read the divine books, which, thanks to his wonderful gifts, he mastered so quickly that he amazed everyone. Theodosius’s well-to-do parents did not like their son dressing like a beggar, seeking solitude, and often working together with the neighbouring peasants out of a desire to help them.

After his father’s death the young ascetic secretly left his mother and set out with pilgrims on the road to Jerusalem, but he was overtaken and severely punished for his wilfulness. Back at home, in spite of the prohibitions and threats of his strict and loving mother, Theodosius kept to the way of life he had chosen: whatever he received from his mother he gave to the poor; he fasted strictly, wore iron chains, and baked prosphora for one of the churches. The young man was twenty-three when he secretly left his family home and became a monk in the Kiev Caves Lavra at the hands of the Venerable Antony. Four years later his mother found her son and begged him with tears to come home, but the saint himself persuaded her to become a nun in the convent of Saint Nicholas.

In 1054 the Venerable Theodosius was ordained hieromonk, and in 1057 he was chosen abbot. The report of his wonderful labours drew many ascetics to the monastery, where the saint introduced the rule of the Studite monastery, which at his request had been specially copied out in Constantinople. Even as superior the Venerable Theodosius carried out the most difficult obediences. He usually ate only dry bread and herbs; he spent his nights sleepless in prayer, which the brethren noticed more than once, although the Lord’s chosen one tried diligently to hide his labours from men. No one ever saw the blessed one lie down to sleep: as a rule he rested sitting. In the days of Great Lent the saint would withdraw to a cave near the monastery and labour there hidden from everyone. His clothing was coarse sackcloth, which he wore directly on his bare body; so it was impossible to recognise in this beggarly monk the famous abbot whom everyone revered. Once the Venerable Theodosius was returning from the Grand Prince Izyaslav. The coachman, who did not yet know the blessed one, spoke to him rudely: “Thou, monk, art always idle, while I am always working; come over to my place, and let me ride in the carriage!” The holy monk humbly obeyed and drove the servant. When the coachman saw that the boyars they met bowed their heads with reverence at the sight of the blessed one, he was seized with fear; but Theodosius calmed him, and when they reached the monastery he even fed him. The saint was not afraid to denounce the mighty of this world. Those unjustly condemned found in him a faithful defender. The blessed father took special care of the poor: he set up in the monastery a special courtyard where everyone in need could receive food and shelter.

The Venerable Theodosius foresaw the day of his end, and in 1074, at the age of sixty-five, he commended his soul to the Lord in peace. The blessed one’s holy remains were buried in the cave he had dug himself, where he used to labour in the days of Great Lent, and in 1091 they were translated to the cathedral church of the Dormition of the Mother of God. During the Mongol invasion the holy abbot’s incorrupt relics were buried by the western gate of the great church, so that they would not fall into the enemy’s hands. The blessed father was canonised in 1108.

Six sermons of Theodosius, two epistles, and a prayer for all Christians have come down to us. The venerable father’s life was compiled thirty years after the blessed one’s repose by his disciple, Saint Nestor the Chronicler.