The Robinson Crusoe of Orthodoxy: Venerable Theoktiste of Lesvos
By Photios Kontoglou
By Photios Kontoglou
“Great indeed is the achievement of your life, Mother. You astonish all the faithful with your outstanding deeds. For you lived like an angel upon earth, O Venerable one, and became like the angels.”
“The righteous is as bold as a lion,” says the wise Solomon. And truly, all the saints stood like lions in their faith — not only the brave young men, but also the harmless old men and women, who by nature are timid.
The Christian religion is heroic. Whoever has faith fears nothing except God. The bravery shown by those who struggle for the things of this world is nothing compared with the fearlessness and endurance displayed by the saints — not only the martyrs, but also the venerable ascetics and the hierarchs. Which of the brave men of this world can endure contempt? Who has the strength to bear unjust accusations? Who turns the other cheek to be struck, without resisting? Who has the strength to love his enemies and pray for them?
And as for physical endurance, who has the strength to renounce the world and go to live in the wilderness like a wild beast, without any consolation, without seeing the shadow of another human being, feeding on wild grasses, and having as a home some dark and damp cave?
Yes, faith makes even the tenderest heart like steel. This is why Paul, whose tongue spoke of God, also wrote: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power” (2 Timothy 1:7).
Among the saints are some whose courage and harsh way of life so far surpass the limits of human endurance that they seem unbelievable to the unbeliever, while the believer weeps as he reads their lives and glorifies God, who gives such strength to those who have renounced everything for His name. Such an indomitable soul in the faith of Christ was Saint Theoktiste of Lesvos.
This Saint was born in the celebrated city of Mithymna, which today is called Molyvos, a small town situated north of Mytilene, opposite Cape Baba in Asia Minor. In ancient times, many distinguished people were born in Mithymna, among them Arion, the great musician, who was depicted riding on a dolphin with a lyre in his hands, to show that his art enchanted even the animals.
Thus, Saint Theoktiste also came from Mithymna. But she practiced asceticism and reposed on Paros, while her relics are on Icarus. Her fellow countrymen felt it deeply that they did not possess her holy relics, and they never ceased making efforts until, at last, what they had desired came to pass: a portion of the Saint’s relics will be given to the people of Mithymna, with the permission of His Eminence Irenaeus, Metropolitan of Samos, and will be enshrined in a church that they will build in her memory.
Saint Theoktiste was born eleven hundred years ago, during the reign of Leo the Wise in Constantinople.
As is customary with such souls, who, as the Evangelist John says, were born not of blood nor of the will of man, but of God, Saint Theoktiste, from her childhood, ran to church to quench her thirst, like a thirsty deer. After her parents died, she went to a monastery and became a nun in the flower of her youth. Yet even from the monastery she would go out to help wherever there was an unfortunate, sick, poor, or unprotected person.
One year, she longed to see her elder sister and went down to Mithymna after Pascha.
At that time, the Barbary corsairs were ravaging the islands and coastlands of the East. A certain Arab named Nissyrios had appeared, a savage shark who roamed everywhere with his ships. Wherever he landed, he left not one stone upon another. He seized, tore apart, killed, dishonored women, enslaved men, and forced Christians to abandon their faith.
So he went and anchored at a deserted rocky shore north of Mithymna. Without anyone noticing him, he entered the village at night with his band of Arabs, while everyone was asleep. In a short time, he plundered the place. He left no house unsearched, killed and dishonored people, and took the survivors, men and women alike, as slaves to sell. Among the captives was Theoktiste, an eighteen-year-old girl.
They set sail, and, with the north wind behind them, headed for Paros, which was completely deserted and overgrown, and for this reason had become a hideout for pirates.
Theoktiste, huddled in a corner of the ship’s hold, was covered with her cassock and silently recited her prayers: the Psalter, the supplication of Jonah, who had been swallowed by the great fish, the prayer of the Three Youths in the furnace, and the prayer of Daniel in the lions’ den.
We have said that Paros was deserted and overgrown, and not even the shadow of a human being could be seen upon it. The large village, Paroikia, had become a heap of stones, among which wild grasses and trees had grown thick and tall. The wind blew, and the sea roared, equally desolate, tossing its trees and grasses. Not a living soul could be seen anywhere. Only at night could one hear the jackals howling and the snakes hissing.
There in Paroikia stood a large and celebrated church of the Panagia, built near the sea. It survives to this day and is called Ekatontapyliani, a building among the most ancient and most important in Christendom.
At the time when this story took place, this church had fallen into ruin, and its marble stones lay broken by the corsairs. The surrounding area was overgrown with trees, and brambles, mastic bushes, holm oaks, and nettles had sprung up inside the church itself.
The Barbary corsairs anchored their ships in the harbor, which is sheltered in all weather. They went ashore, brought the captives ashore as well, and then scattered here and there, searching about as they always did.
Then Theoktiste quietly slipped away without being noticed, entered the dense woods, and went as far inside as she could. She heard the corsairs shouting, but she had hidden herself in a hollow and held her breath, trembling with fear. God protected her, and the corsairs, after searching for a little while, set sail and departed.
When she saw through the trees that the ships were heading out to sea, she knelt and gave thanks to God. She feared nothing. It did not even occur to her that she was completely alone on that wild island, or what she would eat, what she would drink, or what she would wear! Her clothes had been torn by the brambles, and her feet and hands were bleeding from the thorns. But she glorified the Lord because He had saved her soul. She gave no thought at all to her body, and silently repeated the words of David: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You, O Lord, are with me.”
She came out briefly into a clearing and went toward the seashore. The wind blew, and the trees groaned. The sea roared, and the open waters foamed, blue and endless. Not a living soul could be seen anywhere. Only the seagulls cried above her, as though wondering at the sight of her. She realized that she was completely alone in that wilderness, surrounded by endless waters. She knelt in the sand and said her prayer. She begged God to protect her and thanked Him for having cast her onto that deserted island, rather than complaining, as we would have done. She thought that God's inscrutable wisdom had brought her to that place in order to save her from the snares of the devil. For she had left her monastery because she longed to see her sister, even though she had renounced the world for Him who said: “Whoever loves his father and mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.” Nature binds us tightly with its bonds. Perhaps, then, her love for her sister might have led her astray. Perhaps the natural bond of the flesh might have weakened in her soul the spiritual bond with Christ. For this reason, He who orders all things for the benefit of His creature delivered her into the hands of the corsairs, so that they might bring her to the wilderness, which she sanctified, just as Anthony and the other ascetics sanctified the wilderness.
Thirty-five years passed from the day Theoktiste was left completely alone on her deserted island of Paros, without anyone knowing what had become of her, whether she was alive or dead. Nor did anyone know that there was a living human being on that forgotten island. It seems that the corsairs never returned either, for they had better hideouts in which to take refuge on other islands, and found better vantage points from which to watch for ships passing closer to Asia Minor.
After thirty-five years, it happened that Emperor Leo sent ships from Constantinople with an army to fight the Arabs who held Crete and from there raided towns and villages, just as Nissyrios had done at Mithymna. A good warrior named Himerios was appointed commander of the ships. Among his retinue was Symeon the Metaphrastes, a learned adviser to the emperor who had written many Lives of the Saints.
It was as though by divine providence that Symeon found himself aboard those ships, so that he might write the extraordinary life of Saint Theoktiste. For when they reached the vicinity of Nio, a storm arose, and they were forced to put in at Paros. When they went ashore, they went to venerate the celebrated Church of Ekatontapyliani, of which they had heard. As they looked at the ruins and wondered at the state to which that magnificent building had fallen, they suddenly saw a monk approaching them. He was emaciated, yellow, and barefoot, wearing a robe made of goats’ hair. He did not wish to tell them how he had come to be in that place. He merely told them, when they asked, that the marble ciborium covering the holy altar had been broken by the corsairs of Nissyrios, who wanted to take it to Crete. But they had been unable to steal it, and, as Nissyrios’s ship was departing from Paros, it was wrecked at the cape of Euboea called Xylophagos (today’s Cape Kafireas, or Cavo D’Oro). That enemy of the Christians, Nissyrios, drowned there together with his band of brigands.
The old man told them many other things as well. In particular, he told them that they would reach Crete on Tuesday and would defeat the Arabs, along with other events that came to pass just as he had foretold.
He also told them the following story, which Symeon wrote down when he returned to Constantinople:
“Some years ago,” he said, “some hunters came to Paros from Euripus (Euboea) to hunt deer and other wild animals. One of them told me the following very sweet story:
‘One day,’ he told me, ‘I came to this island with some companions to hunt, as we are doing now. I separated from the others and went to venerate the church of the Panagia. When I entered, I saw a few lupines in a hollow, that is, beans, which grow abundantly in this place. I said to myself that perhaps there was some holy ascetic on the island, and I looked around at one side of the church and then the other.
'As I was looking, I saw, on the right side of the holy altar, a thin piece of cloth, like a spider’s web, which was moving in the breeze. I wanted to go closer to see clearly what it was. But I heard a voice saying to me: “Stop, man, do not come closer, for I am a naked woman, and I am ashamed.”
‘In my fear, I wanted to flee, for the hair on my head stood up like thorns, and I was trembling with terror.
‘But I stopped, and when I had somewhat recovered myself, I asked her who she was and where she came from. She said to me: “Please throw me some clothing to cover myself, and then I will tell you whatever it is God's will for you to know.” Then I threw her my outer garment. After she had put it on, she first made the sign of the Cross and said her prayer, so that I would not think she was some kind of apparition. Then she came near me.
‘When I saw such a sight, I was horrified. For I could see that she was a woman, but she did not look like a human being, because there was no flesh on her at all, only skin and bones, and these were black and hideous. The hairs on her head were completely white, and her face was changed, with no substance at all, like the shadow of a human being. Overcome by great fear, I fell face down on the ground and begged her to bless me. She raised her hands and eyes and prayed silently. Then she said to me: “May God have mercy on you, man of God, for He has guided you to me, a worthless woman, so that I may tell you my life.
‘“Know, then, that I come from a village on the island of Mytilene called Mithymna. I am a nun by profession, and my name is Theoktiste. When I was young, my parents died. Then I went to a women's monastery and received the monastic tonsure. When I was eighteen years old, I went to my village at Pascha to see a sister of mine who was married. That very night, the Arabs from Crete arrived and enslaved all the people of my village, including me. They put us aboard their ships, and we left there and arrived at this island.
‘“When we anchored, their leader, Nissyrios, ordered them to bring us ashore so that he could assess how much each of us was worth. I then pretended to be thirsty and to go and drink. After moving away from the others, I entered the forest and walked with such haste that I tore my feet to pieces on the stones and branches. At last, I fell to the ground as though dead, unable to stand upright because of the pain. In the morning, I saw the Saracens departing, and in my joy I forgot my pain.
‘“It has now been thirty-five years and more that I have lived here. My first nourishment is the word of God and the help of the Panagia Theotokos; my second is lupines and wild grasses. And since my clothes have been torn and worn away, I am clothed and covered by the power of God, who governs and sustains all things.”’
After the Saint had spoken these words, she gave thanks to God and rested for a little while. Then she said to me again: “I have briefly told you, man, everything I have suffered up to this day. But I ask you, for the Lord's sake, to grant me this favor. I know that you will come here again with your companions to hunt. When you return, ask a priest to bring me a portion of the Lord's Body, so that I may receive Holy Communion. And do not tell anyone else anything about me.”
After saying these words, she gave me her blessing, and I promised her that I would do everything she had instructed me to do. Then I bowed before her, and departed.
“Before long, we came here again, just as the Saint had said, and brought her the Holy Mysteries. But we did not find her, either because she had gone to another part of the island or because she had hidden herself since others were with me and she did not want them to see her. However, after my other companions had left to hunt, I saw the Saint standing before me, wearing the garment I had given her. When she saw the Holy Mysteries I was carrying, she began to weep for joy. And after receiving Communion, she said: ‘Now You are releasing Your servant, O Master, for my eyes have seen Your salvation. Now that I have received the forgiveness of my sins, let me go wherever Your almighty power commands.’
“She said these words, and after raising her hands and keeping them lifted for a long time, she prayed silently in her mind. Then, having received her blessing, I departed.
“We remained on the island for a few days and had a good hunt. Before leaving, I returned once more to the church to receive the blessing of Saint Theoktiste, for help on our journey. But, as I entered the dilapidated church, I saw her lying dead in the place where I had found her before, with her hands crossed and wrapped in the garment I had given her.
“Then I fell to the ground, weeping and kissing that sanctified, virginal, and immaculate relic. Afterward, I went outside and called my companions. We lit candles and incense, sang the funeral service, and buried her in the very place where we had found her.’”
Source: From the book Humble Giants. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.
‘In my fear, I wanted to flee, for the hair on my head stood up like thorns, and I was trembling with terror.
‘But I stopped, and when I had somewhat recovered myself, I asked her who she was and where she came from. She said to me: “Please throw me some clothing to cover myself, and then I will tell you whatever it is God's will for you to know.” Then I threw her my outer garment. After she had put it on, she first made the sign of the Cross and said her prayer, so that I would not think she was some kind of apparition. Then she came near me.
‘When I saw such a sight, I was horrified. For I could see that she was a woman, but she did not look like a human being, because there was no flesh on her at all, only skin and bones, and these were black and hideous. The hairs on her head were completely white, and her face was changed, with no substance at all, like the shadow of a human being. Overcome by great fear, I fell face down on the ground and begged her to bless me. She raised her hands and eyes and prayed silently. Then she said to me: “May God have mercy on you, man of God, for He has guided you to me, a worthless woman, so that I may tell you my life.
‘“Know, then, that I come from a village on the island of Mytilene called Mithymna. I am a nun by profession, and my name is Theoktiste. When I was young, my parents died. Then I went to a women's monastery and received the monastic tonsure. When I was eighteen years old, I went to my village at Pascha to see a sister of mine who was married. That very night, the Arabs from Crete arrived and enslaved all the people of my village, including me. They put us aboard their ships, and we left there and arrived at this island.
‘“When we anchored, their leader, Nissyrios, ordered them to bring us ashore so that he could assess how much each of us was worth. I then pretended to be thirsty and to go and drink. After moving away from the others, I entered the forest and walked with such haste that I tore my feet to pieces on the stones and branches. At last, I fell to the ground as though dead, unable to stand upright because of the pain. In the morning, I saw the Saracens departing, and in my joy I forgot my pain.
‘“It has now been thirty-five years and more that I have lived here. My first nourishment is the word of God and the help of the Panagia Theotokos; my second is lupines and wild grasses. And since my clothes have been torn and worn away, I am clothed and covered by the power of God, who governs and sustains all things.”’
After the Saint had spoken these words, she gave thanks to God and rested for a little while. Then she said to me again: “I have briefly told you, man, everything I have suffered up to this day. But I ask you, for the Lord's sake, to grant me this favor. I know that you will come here again with your companions to hunt. When you return, ask a priest to bring me a portion of the Lord's Body, so that I may receive Holy Communion. And do not tell anyone else anything about me.”
After saying these words, she gave me her blessing, and I promised her that I would do everything she had instructed me to do. Then I bowed before her, and departed.
“Before long, we came here again, just as the Saint had said, and brought her the Holy Mysteries. But we did not find her, either because she had gone to another part of the island or because she had hidden herself since others were with me and she did not want them to see her. However, after my other companions had left to hunt, I saw the Saint standing before me, wearing the garment I had given her. When she saw the Holy Mysteries I was carrying, she began to weep for joy. And after receiving Communion, she said: ‘Now You are releasing Your servant, O Master, for my eyes have seen Your salvation. Now that I have received the forgiveness of my sins, let me go wherever Your almighty power commands.’
“She said these words, and after raising her hands and keeping them lifted for a long time, she prayed silently in her mind. Then, having received her blessing, I departed.
“We remained on the island for a few days and had a good hunt. Before leaving, I returned once more to the church to receive the blessing of Saint Theoktiste, for help on our journey. But, as I entered the dilapidated church, I saw her lying dead in the place where I had found her before, with her hands crossed and wrapped in the garment I had given her.
“Then I fell to the ground, weeping and kissing that sanctified, virginal, and immaculate relic. Afterward, I went outside and called my companions. We lit candles and incense, sang the funeral service, and buried her in the very place where we had found her.’”
Source: From the book Humble Giants. Translation by John Sanidopoulos.
