Theonas of Alexandria

Saint Theonas was the sixteenth pope and patriarch of Alexandria, from 282 to 300. He was a gentle and righteous scholar, full of love for all, and it was he who built in Alexandria the first great church dedicated to the Mother of God, the Theotokos.

Until his time the faithful prayed and served in houses and caves, for fear of the unbelievers. Theonas worked with wisdom and gentleness and brought many pagans to the faith, baptising them. The church he raised, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, is held to be the first known cathedral of the Church of Alexandria; it stood in the western part of the city, near the gate of the Place, where today stands a Catholic convent. In the first year of his patriarchate he baptised Peter, who succeeded him on the throne of Saint Mark and was the seventeenth pope. It is said that he made him a reader at five, a deacon at twelve and a priest at sixteen. In his time Sabellius appeared in Alexandria, teaching that the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit are one person; Theonas excommunicated him and dispelled his heresy with convincing proofs.

Historians keep from him a letter to the chief chamberlain of the imperial court, written in the early years of Diocletian's reign, full of piety and simplicity, with exhortations to live worthily of the Christian name. Before his death he chose as his successor the priest Peter. He passed to the Lord in peace, on 23 August 300 or, in other sources, 28 December, after nineteen years on the throne of Saint Mark. His feast is on 28 December, and in the Catholic Church also on 23 August.