Skip to main content

Baba 18 : The Departure of the Honorable Father Saint Theophilus 23rd Pope of Alexandria

 On this day of the year 44 A.D., the holy father Abba Theophilus, 23rd Pope of Alexandria, departed. He was a disciple of St. Athanasius the Apostolic. He was brought up by him and learned all the spiritual doctrine from him.

When Pope Timothy I departed, this father was chosen to take his place. Abba Theophilus was knowledgeable, well read in the church books with full understanding of their interpretation. He wrote many discourses and works of exhortation urging on the works of charity and mercy, and warnings to the people about receiving the Divine Mysteries without being prepared, and concerning the Resurrection and the punishment which is prepared for sinners and many other useful teachings.

The holy father Abba Kyrillos was his nephew and Abba Theophilus took care of his education by sending him to Abba Serapion in the desert of Scete. There Kyrillos studied the books of the church and all its subjects and stayed there five years, then went back to his uncle. When Abba Theophilus was with Abba Athanasius the Apostolic, he heard him one day saying while looking at the hills before his cell, "If I find time, I will clear away these hills and build a church in their place for St. John the Baptist and Elisha the prophet."

When Abba Theophilus became Patriarch, he remembered that saying and he talked about it often. In the city of Rome, the husband of a rich woman died and left her with two sons. She took them and much money and an icon of the Archangel Raphael and came to Alexandria. When she heard about the interest of the father the Patriarch in removing those hills, she went to him with true zeal and gave him enough money to fulfill his desire. After the work was done, a treasure appeared under the hills and was covered with a slab of stone engraved in Coptic, with three characters of theta, 0. When Abba Theophilus saw them, he knew, guided by the Holy Spirit, the secret of these three letters and said, "Behold the time has come for this treasure to be uncovered because these three thetas were gathered together at the same time and they are: Thoes, that of God; and Theodosius the Emperor, son of Arcadius, son of Theodosius the Great; and Theophilus the Patriarch - meaning himself. He found that this treasure dated to the Era of Alexander, the son of Philip the Macedonian which was 700 years before.

The Patriarch sent to the Emperor to inform him about the treasure and asked him to come. The Emperor came and saw the treasure, and gave a large sum of money to Abba Theophilus. He built many churches. He began by building a church in the name of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet, and he transferred their relics that church. That church was known at that time by the Demas. Then he built a church by the name of our Lady the Virgin Mary, then a church in the name of the Archangel Raphael at El-Gizira and seven other churches.

As for the two sons of the woman who came from Rome, he ordained them bishops. When the Emperor saw the love of the Abba the Patriarch for building churches, he gave him all the houses of idols and Abba Theophilus changed them to churches and lodging houses for strangers, and endowed them with land.

Having fulfilled his days in a life pleasing to God, he departed from this world in peace.

His prayers be with us and Glory be to our God, forever. Amen.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Amshir 14 : The Departure of St. Severus (AKA Saint Sawiris), Patriarch of Antioch and the Departure of St. James (Yacobus), 50th Pope of Alexandria.

   1. The Departure of St. Severus (St. Sawiris), Patriarch of Antioch. On this day of the year 538 A.D., the holy father St. Severus (AKA St. Sawiris), Patriarch of Antioch, departed. He was from Asia Minor. His grandfather, whose name was also Severus, saw in a vision someone telling him, "The child who is for your son will strengthen Orthodoxy, and his name will be after your name." When his son had this saint, he called him Severus. He was taught the Greek wisdom and church subjects. Once, the saint was strolling outside the city, a shut-in saint came out of his cave crying, "Welcome to you Severus, teacher of Orthodoxy, and Patriarch of Antioch." Severus marvelled at how he called him by his name, for he did not know him before, and how he foretold what would become of him. Severus grew in virtue and became a monk in the monastery of St. Romanus. The fame of his righteousness and his ascetic life spread out. When the Patriarch of Antioch departed, t...

Hator 5 : The Appearance of the Head of St. Longinus, the Soldier, and the Martyrdom of St. Timothy and the Relocation of the Body of St. Theodore, the Prince, to Shotb.

  1. The Appearance of the Head of St. Longinus, the Soldier. On this day was the appearance of the head of St. Longinus the Soldier who pierced the side of our Savior, when He was on the Cross. Emperor Tiberius Caesar sent a soldier to Cappadocia to cut off the head of this saint, as it is written in the 23rd day of the month of Abib. The soldier fulfilled the order and brought the head to Jerusalem, and handed it to Pontius Pilate. Pilate showed the head to the Jews, who rejoiced at his deed. Pilate commanded that the head be buried in some of the piles of dirt outside Jerusalem. There was a woman who had believed at the hands of St. Longinus when he preached in Cappadocia. During his execution, she stood, weeping, and witnessed his martyrdom. Later on she became blind. So, she took her son and departed to Jerusalem to be blessed by the holy places, and the holy sepulchre, hoping that she might regain her sight. When she arrived in Jerusalem, her son died. She becam...

Hator 2 : The Departure of St. Peter the Third 27th Pope of Alexandria

  The Departure of St. Peter the Third 27th Pope of Alexandria On this day in the year 481 A.D., the Great Saint Abba Peter III, 27th Pope of Alexandria, departed. He was chosen patriarch after the departure of St. Timothy, 26th Pope. Shortly after his enthronement upon the apostolic throne, he received a letter from St. Acacius, Patriarch of Constantinople, confessing in it the one nature of Christ, according to the faith of St. Cyril and St. Dioscorus. He also stated clearly that it is not right to recognize two separate natures for Christ after the union, otherwise, the usefulness of the union would be futile. Abba Peter replied by a letter declaring his acceptance of Abba Acacius into the Orthodox Faith. He sent it with three learned bishops to Abba Acacius, who received them with respect and asked them to join him in the prayers of the Divine Liturgy. Abba Acacius read the letter to his particulars and to those who followed him. He then wrote another Catholic epi...