Theodore the Good

Holy Hierarch Theodore II the Good was bishop of Tver and died on 20 March 1367. He is canonized among the hierarchs. His commemoration is on 20 March (2 April by the new calendar) and on the Sunday after 29 June (12 July), in the Synaxis of the Saints of Tver.

He was born in the town of Kashin. In 1342, after the death of the previous bishop of Tver, Theodore, he was consecrated bishop of Tver by Metropolitan Theognostus. He met with many difficulties in governing the affairs of the diocese, because of the unceasing enmity between the princes of Tver. This went so far that even the inhabitants began to move to other cities. In the end, in 1348, Bishop Theodore managed to reconcile the princes, but not for long. The enmity between Prince Vasily Mikhailovich of Tver and his nephew, Prince Vsevolod Alexandrovich of Kholm, could be ended neither by the grand prince nor by Metropolitan Alexis, who wished to bring them to their conscience at Vladimir, where they came in 1357 for this purpose. Vasily, favoured especially by Grand Prince Ivan Ivanovich, oppressed Vsevolod, to the grief of the good bishop of Tver, Theodore. Worn out by the unceasing quarrels of the princes, the right reverend Theodore resolved to leave the diocese altogether and in 1358, when he escorted Metropolitan Alexis, with other bishops, to Kyiv, asked to be released from the diocese. But the metropolitan counselled him and urged him with great love to endure with patience, that the Lord God might do according to his will.

A zealous promoter of the adornment of the churches of God, in 1344 he made copper doors for the cathedral, in 1349 he adorned the sanctuary of the cathedral with wall paintings, and in 1353 he set on the cathedral a gilded cross. Later he did the same for the churches of Saint Demetrius and of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple. In 1360 he adorned with wall paintings the church of the Entry into the Temple as well. A distinguishing trait of Bishop Theodore was his love of almsgiving, for which the people called him the Good.

In 1360 he retired, because of old age, to the Otroch Monastery in Tver, where he died on 20 March 1367. He was buried at the cathedral, in the small church of the Entry of the Mother of God into the Temple, beside Bishop Andrew of Tver.