Fathers Slain at the Monastery of Theodosius

The Fathers Slain at the Monastery of Theodosius were the monks of the monastery of Saint Theodosius the Cenobiarch in the Judean desert, killed in the year 614, when the Persian armies of King Chosroes invaded the Holy Land and laid waste Jerusalem and its surroundings. Crowds of the faithful, priests, abbots and monks were slaughtered, and the monasteries of Saint Theodosius, Saint Sabbas, Choziba, Saint Gerasimus and others were destroyed.

When the hordes of unbelievers fell upon the monastery of Theodosius, they began to cut down the fathers who were quietly praising the name of Christ. None of them agreed to deny his faith, and all fell by the sword, were pierced or cut to pieces. The monastery was plundered and burned.

Fathers who escaped from the neighbouring caves buried the bodies of the martyrs together in the cave of the Magi in the middle of the monastery. There their relics were found in recent years, fragrant and flowing with myrrh, and were placed in the main church of the monastery. They are commemorated on 13 January, by the church calendar of the Church of Greece.