November 11
Theodore the Student (759–826)
Monk and abbot
Saint Theodore the Studite (759–826) was an influential Byzantine monk, abbot, theologian, and monastic reformer.
Biography
He is remembered as one of the most important religious and cultural figures of the medieval Byzantine Empire.
Around the year 800 he refounded and assumed the direction of the Studion Monastery in Constantinople, from which his name "Studita" comes. Under his guidance it became a great cultural and social center that housed more than a thousand monks and stood out for its famous school of calligraphy and manuscript copying.
He was a firm and passionate opponent of iconoclasm. His doctrinal and political confrontations against the iconoclastic emperors cost him exile and prison on several occasions.
He vehemently defended the autonomy of the Church against the intervention of the imperial government. He broke communion with the local ecclesiastical authorities when they gave in to the moral scandals of the court, such as the adulterous marriage of Emperor Constantine VI.
Practical advice
Respectfully defend the truth and dedicate time today to a job well done that preserves or transmits culture.