Venerable Theodora of Thessaloniki

Theodora of Thessalonica (Greek: Θεοδώρα Θεσσαλονίκης; 812–892) was a Byzantine nun and saint from Aegina. Her hagiography is the longest ever written about a holy woman in Byzantine history. The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates her feast day on 29 August. According to her biographer, Gregory the Presbyter, Theodora was a native of Aegina. Her father was a senior priest who later took monastic vows, her brother a deacon, and her sister a nun. At the age of seven, she learned to read a part of the Psalms and was then promised in marriage to a noble man of Aegina. Her early life was profoundly affected by the Arab raids of the ninth and tenth century that devastated the coastal areas of the Aegean. After her brother was killed in one of these raids, she emigrated with her husband and father to Thessalonica, possibly around 826. They moved here as they had several relatives in the city: Aikaterine, abbess of the convent of St. Luke; Anthony, Aikaterine's brother and later also briefly bishop of Thessalonica; Anna, abbess of the convent of St. Stephen; and her sister who was nun at St. Stephen. Following the death of two of her children, Theodora vowed to dedicate her third child to the monastic life. This daughter, Theophiste, is described as being tonsured and joining the community of her aunt Aikaterina at the age of six, although this might be hagiographic exaggeration. Upon her husband's death in 837, Theodora divided her goods between the poor and the convent of St. Stephen the Protomartyr, which she then joined. She then had her daughter transferred to the same community. Mother and daughter were then tasked to work together for fifteen years, until Theophiste became the superior, and both continued to live in the monastery for twenty-four years more. Although Theodora did not perform any miracles during her lifetime, nor was known for extraordinary feats of asceticism, she was praised for her obedience, hard work and humility.