Theodora of Rossano

Saint Theodora of Rossano, the holy nun, was abbess of the monastery of Saint Anastasia at Rossano in Calabria in southern Italy, a disciple of Saint Nilus of Rossano. She was born around 910 in the province of Cosenza, to a poor family, her parents being Eusebius and Rosalia, and she reposed on 28 November 980, at the age of seventy according to tradition.

From her youth she gave herself to works of mercy and, resolving to keep her virginity, she entered at fifteen, under the guidance of Saint Nilus, the monastery of San Opoli, following the rule of Saint Basil the Great. A believer named Eusebius gave the means for a new monastery, Saint Anastasia (today the Oratory of San Marco, the oldest building of Rossano and one of the best preserved Byzantine buildings in Italy). Nilus appointed Theodora abbess of this community, where she was a teacher of the monastic life and an example of devotion, strict asceticism and virtue for many young women.

It is not certain where she was buried; some say in the cathedral of Rossano. She is commemorated on 28 November, by the Western calendar (new style), as an Italo-⁠Greek saint of the undivided Church.