Thomais of Lesbos (born 909/913 - died 947/951), also Saint Thomais, was a Byzantine woman from Lesbos and saint. She is a rare example of a married laywoman who achieved sanctity through her daily life and she is venerated as a saint in 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 ...

, her feast day being on 3 January.

Life

Based on the dates provided in one of her vitas, it seems that Thomais was born at some point between the years 909 and 913 on the isle of Lesbos, though some doubts remain. She was the daughter of a prosperous couple who had long remained childless. At some point, she moved with her family to the Bosporus, possibly to Chalcedon. There, though she desired to stay a virgin, she was married at age 24 to a certain Stephen. The marriage was not happy and Stephen beat her frequently and discouraged her charitable activities. She died in

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

at age 38 on 1 January (between 947 or 951 if the dating in her vita is correct). Her body was interred in the monastery of Theotokos ta Mikra Romaiou where also her mother, who had entered the convent after the death of Thomais' father, had been a nun and buried.

Legacy

The life of Thomais survives in two anonymously written vitae, one assumed to be from the mid-tenth century and the other has not been dated, and an

encomium ''Encomium'' is a Latin word deriving from the Ancient Greek ''enkomion'' (), meaning "the praise of a person or thing." Another Latin equivalent is ''laudatio'', a speech in praise of someone or something. Originally was the song sung by the c ...

written by Constantine Akropolites. He life echoes that of

Mary the Younger Saint Mary the Younger ( el, Μαρία ή Νέα, to distinguish her from Saint Mary of Egypt; 875 – 16 February 902) was a Byzantine saint of Armenian origin, the daughter of an Armenian noble.Paul Halsall, ''Medieval Sourcebook: Life of Mary ...

, another pious woman driven to death by her husband. Thomas' disastrous marriage is contrasted with the happy one of her parents, who are described as "a golden team", and her persistence in doing good works becomes heroic. As such, Thomais is a rare example of a married laywoman who achieved sanctity through her daily life. The veneration of Thomais was never hugely popular and she is absent from the Synaxarion of Constantinople. However, there is some evidence that her cult became more popular in the late Byzantine period and Russian pilgrims to Constantinople in the fourteenth and fifteenth century describe visiting her tomb in the ''Theotokos ta Mikra Romaiou monastery''. Her feast day, initially celebrated on 1 January, is now celebrated on 3 January. She is seen as a "Protector of Marriage" and asked to intercede to console fighting couples.

References

Sources

* * * * {{cite web , title=January 3, 2018. + Orthodox Calendar , url=https://orthochristian.com/calendar/20180103.html , website=orthochristian.com , ref={{harvid, Orthodox Calendar, 2018 , access-date=8 March 2024 People from Lesbos 10th-century Byzantine women 10th-century Christian saints Violence against women 10th-century births 10th-century deaths Year of birth uncertain Year of death uncertain Medieval Lesbos Byzantine saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church