SAINT THEODORE THE RECRUIT,
MIRACLE OF THE KOLLYVA
They charged him with setting a pagan temple on fire, and threw him into prison to be starved to death. The Lord Jesus Christ appeared to him there, comforting and encouraging him. Brought to the governor, St Theodore boldly and fearlessly confessed his faith, for which he was subjected to new torments and condemned to burning. The martyr Theodore climbed onto the fire without hesitation, and with prayer and gave up his holy soul to God.
This occurred in about the year 306 under the Roman emperor Galerius (305-311). Unharmed by the fire, the body of St Theodore was buried in the city of Euchaita, not far from Amasium. His relics were afterwards transferred to Constantinople, to a church dedicated to him. His head is in Italy, in the city of Gaeto.
For the Day
Hebrews 1:1-12(KJV)
1 God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
2 Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;
3 Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high:
4 Being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they.
5 For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?
6 And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.
7 And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a scepter of righteousness is the scepter of thy kingdom.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment;
12 And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail.
For the Day
Saint Mark 2:23-3:5(KJV)
23 And it came to pass, that he went through the corn fields on the sabbath day; and his disciples began, as they went, to pluck the ears of corn.
24 And the Pharisees said unto him, Behold, why do they on the sabbath day that which is not lawful?
25 And he said unto them, Have ye never read what David did, when he had need, and was an hungred, he, and they that were with him?
26 How he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and did eat the shewbread, which is not lawful to eat but for the priests, and gave also to them which were with him?
27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath:
28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.
3 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other.
For Saint Theodore
2 Saint Timothy 2:1-10(KJV)
2 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
For Saint Theodore
Saint John 15:17-16:2 (KJV)
17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.
21 But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me.
22 If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.
23 He that hateth me hateth my Father also.
24 If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.
25 But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.
26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:
27 And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.
16 These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.
2 They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.
we celebrate the remarkable miracle performed by the Holy and Glorious Great Martyr, Theodore the Recruit, through the Kóllyva
History Kóllyva
Kollyba, a word which, in Greek, is the plural form of kollybo (κόλλυβο – itself rarely used), is derived from the Classical Greek word κόλλυβος, kollybos, i.e. a small coin or a small gold weight. In the Hellenistic period, the neuter plural form of the latter word, i.e. κόλλυβα, kollyba, took the meaning of small pies made of boiled wheat. This sense of a ritual food is of a latter period.
Koliva was introduced into the practice of the Church after the miracle of Saint Theodore of Tyron (Saint Theodore of Amaséa), which happened about fifty years after this Saint’s death (February 17, 306), during the time of Emperor Julian the Apostate (361-363) who, wishing to mock the Christians, ordered the governor of Constantinople to sprinkle all supplies in the food markets with blood sacrificed to idols, in the first week of the Great Lent, because the Emperor knew that the Christians would be hungry after the first week of strict fasting, and would go to the marketplaces of Constantinople on Saturday to buy food.
Saint Theodore, appearing in a dream of Archbishop Eudoxios of Constantinople (360-370), commanded him to warn Christians not to buy anything from the market, but rather to eat boiled wheat with honey (Kóllyva). Not long after this, the feast of the miracle of this Great Martyr Saint Theodore was scheduled in the calendar on the first Saturday of the Great Lent (more precisely during the time of Patriarch Nectary of Constantinople (381-397)). From then until today, on the first Saturday of the Great Lent, the remembrance of the dead and the commemoration of Saint Theodore Tyron are celebrated.
The symbolic use of Kóllyva in our Church services also shows that man may also be regarded as a seed, a fruit of the earth, now sowing itself on the earth like wheat, to again be resurrected with the power of God, rising in the life to be and bringing himself alive and perfect in Christ. For as any seed is buried in the earth, it will, upon rising, bring forth much fruit, so also a human, being given to the earth through death, will rise again.
The same thing is said by the Holy Apostle Paul, showing the theme of resurrection through the parable of sowing.
Based on + Saint Symeon of Thessaloniki
THE SEA OF LIFESaint Ignaty Brianchaninov
The Holy Church sails along the waves of the sea of life but remains above them because of the divine teaching that contains in its heart true knowledge of God and of man, of good and evil, of the visible and invisible world, of the earthly and temporary world, and of the spiritual and eternal world.
All true Christians in all the world belong to this one true Church, and keeping its teaching in fullness and purity, they make up that armada that sails over the sea of life, never submerging into its murky depths.
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