Venerable Theoctista (+881)

The Venerable Theoctista was born in the city of Methymna on the island of Lesbos (Asia Minor). Her parents died in her early childhood, and her relatives gave her to a monastery to be brought up. The girl’s soul took to the monastic life, withdrawn from the whirl of the world, to the long church services, the obediences of the monastery, strict fasting and unceasing prayer. She learned many hymns, prayers and psalms by heart. In 846 the saint, now eighteen, with the abbess’s blessing, went to a neighbouring village for Easter to visit her sister, and stayed there for the night. At that time Arabs raided the village, took its inhabitants captive, put them aboard a ship, and in the morning put out to sea.

The raiders stopped the ship at the deserted island of Paros to sort and value the captives for sale at market. With the Lord’s help Theoctista managed to escape from the lawless. From that time on the blessed one lived thirty-five years on Paros. She sheltered in an abandoned, ruined church, lived on sunflower seeds and spent all her time in prayer.

Once a party of hunters crossed over to the island. One of them, chasing an animal that had fled, went deep into the forest and suddenly came upon the church. The hunter went in and prayed. After his prayer he noticed in a half-dark corner of the church something like a human figure, and made towards it, but suddenly he heard: “Stop, do not come near: I am ashamed, for I am a naked woman.” The hunter threw her his outer garment, after which the woman came out of her hiding place. She was a grey-haired, emaciated and exhausted woman, who introduced herself to him as Theoctista and in a weak voice told him her whole life.

When she had finished her story, the saint asked the hunter, if he should ever come to this island again, to bring her a portion of the holy Communion. A year later the hunter went to Paros again and took with him a small vessel with a portion of the holy Gifts. Theoctista met the holy thing in the church, fell to the ground and prayed for a long time with tears; then she rose and with reverence and the fear of God received the vessel and communed of the Body and Blood of Christ. The next day the hunter saw the lifeless body of the Venerable Theoctista in the middle of the church.