Venerable Theodore the Sanctified

Theodore came from a rich and noble family in Egypt. His Life tells that at twelve, at the feast of Epiphany, he refused the festive dishes his parents had prepared and wept alone in prayer; soon after he left home for a monastery. Hearing a monk describe the community at Tabennisi, he begged to be taken to Pachomius and became his best-loved disciple.

Pachomius often had him preach to the brethren in his place. After the deaths of Pachomius and his successor Petronius, Theodore helped Abbot Horsiesius lead the Tabennisi monasteries, and Athanasius of Alexandria held him in great respect. He died c. 368, about twenty years after Pachomius, and Athanasius wrote a letter to comfort the monks.