Theoktiste of Lesbos ( grc-gre, Θεοκτίστη τῆς Λέσβου) is a saint of the
Eastern Orthodox Church
The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...
and the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
.
Life
According to her
hagiography
A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies migh ...
, she was born in
Methymna on the island of
Lesbos, probably in the first quarter of the 9th century. Orphaned as a child, her relations brought her to a
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
where she was raised. On Easter in her 18th year (perhaps the year 837), she went to visit her sister in her village, but was captured along with her sister and other local villagers by
Saracen
upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...
raiders. At the island of
Paros, she was able to escape her captors, and lived in solitude there for 35 years, until she was found by a hunter (sometime in the 870s). Theoktiste died soon after, in early autumn, and the hunter buried her. He also cut off her hand as a relic, but after that strong winds prevented him leaving the island until he returned the hand to the grave, after which the corpse disappeared. The tale of Theoktiste's life was told by the hunter thirty years later to another hermit called Symeon, who in turn retold the story to the author of the hagiography,
Niketas Magistros. Her
feast day
The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...
is on 9 November.
Hagiography and iconography
Niketas Magistros composed the ''Life of Theoktiste'' ca. 920, modelled on the life of
Mary of Egypt
Mary of Egypt ( cop, Ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ Ⲛⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ; ; c. 344 – c. 421) is an Egyptian saint, highly venerated as a Desert Mother in the Eastern Orthodox and Coptic Churches. The Catholic Church commemorates her a ...
, but altered to suit the events and environment of 9th-century Byzantium, particularly the ever-present Saracen pirate menace following the establishment of the
Emirate of Crete in the 820s. Due to her association with Mary of Egypt, she is depicted in a similar manner in
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s: "a thin woman with white hair, who is barefoot and wears a ragged cloak that covers barely half her body." The ''Life'' was later reworked slightly by
Symeon Metaphrastes, who put her feast day on 10 November.
See also
*
Syncletica of Alexandria
*
Sarah of the Desert
References
Sources
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Theoctiste Of Lesbos
870s deaths
9th-century Byzantine women
9th-century Christian saints
Paros
Byzantine people of the Arab–Byzantine wars
Byzantine prisoners and detainees
Greek hermits
Year of birth unknown
Saints of medieval Greece
Medieval Aegean Sea
People from Lesbos