In 1091, the relics of St. Theodosius were transferred to the Cave Church of the Assumption of the Virgin. Even before this event, 10 years after the death of the saint, his disciple Nestor wrote his detailed life, and thereby left a memory for imitation of believers in future centuries. Rev. Theodosius of the Caves - the founder of Russian asceticism. All Russian monks somehow oriented their spiritual life in the direction they set.
Childhood Theodosius
The presbyter at the birth of the boy prophetically gave him the name Theodosius, which means "Given to God." The holy Palestinian land that Jesus walked on when he incarnated on the earth attracted the young Theodosius from early childhood. In the end, the boy escaped, seduced by the stories of wanderers. The attempt was unsuccessful, as were the ones following it. In general, in the biography of the saint we see a large volume describing his childhood more than other saints.
The basis of the youth history of Theodosius consists in a meek struggle with his mother for spiritual calling, the torture endured by him, and three attempts to escape. They write about his childhood that the boy spent a lot of time in church, did not play street games with children, and avoided children's companies. Theodosius of the Caves sought science and quickly studied grammar, causing surprise with reason and wisdom. The boy’s love of books was preserved throughout his life and manifested itself when he wrote books in the monastery day and night.
"The Art of Robe"
Another interesting feature from the childhood of Theodosius, which, given its religiosity, takes on a new meaning, was wearing bad, darned clothes. Parents gave him clean new clothes and asked him to wear it, but this is the only thing the lad did not listen to. Further, when, on duty, he had to wear light and clean clothes, he wore them with a heavy heart, giving them to the poor a few days later. He changed into old and patched. "Thin robes" in general do not occupy the last place in the life of the saint, showing his unusual humility from childhood. Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk from childhood fell in love with the thinness of the robe, made it part of his life behavior and passed it on to all Russian asceticism.
When his father died, Theodosius chose for himself a new feat of humiliation and forgiveness: he went out with the slaves to the field and humbly worked with them, thereby showing his ascetic ingenuity.
The image of Mother Theodosius
When Theodosius made his third escape, he ended up in Kiev, in the cave of St. Anthony. The elder did not want to accept him as a student in his youth, and Theodosius returned home. After that there was a dramatic meeting with his mother, full of life truth. The domineering despotism of maternal love does not cause Theodosius to be severe, but insecurity and timidity. From being defeated in this struggle, he turns into a winner. As a result, he does not return to his mother, but she takes tonsure in one of Kiev's monasteries.
Monastic writings
Nestor, when he wrote the life of Theodosius of the Caves, liked to talk more than to describe, so little is written about the personal exploits of Theodosius and his spiritual appearance in different places of the story. Combining these scattered facts, we can make up the concept of the ascetic life of the Monk Theodosius. The most severe deeds of self-mortification of his body are written in the annals of the first years of his cave life. At night, struggling with carnal temptations, naked, the reverend gives his body to mosquitoes and gadflies, while singing psalms. In later life, Theodosius shows a desire for exhaustion of the body. Hiding his austerities, he wore a hair shirt, slept sitting on a chair, prayed intensely at night. Theodosius Pechersky made up for the relatively small ascetic exercises with the continuity of his work. Since childhood, strong and strong, he works both for himself and for others. Being in a monastery under the abbess Varlaam, he grinds grain at night for the entire monastic brethren. And even later, Theodosius, hegumen of Kiev-Pechersky, often took up an ax himself to chop wood or bring water from a well instead of sleeping or resting.
The spiritual life of Theodosius of the Caves
Many pages of the rather extensive life of the saint are devoted to his working and active life, balancing the exploits of spiritual life. He gives the prayer all nights. Only prayer is given to the time of Great Lent, which the reverend spent alone in the cave. Nestor does not show any wonderful qualities of prayers or high contemplations. The prayer helped Theodosius to attain complete fearlessness before the dark forces and allowed him to help his students to get rid of nightly demonic visions.
Theodosius, hegumen of Kiev Pechersk
In the spiritual life of Theodosius was one very important milestone for him - he put an end to the monastery in the caves, founded by Anthony. After hegumen Varlaam founded the first wooden church on the surface of the earth, Theodosius placed cells over the cave, which remained for Anthony and the few hermits. He belittles the silence and contemplation of a cave for the sake of working and fraternal life to build some kind of harmony. In this harmony sound personal notes of humility, meekness, obedience. The Monk Theodosius of Kiev-Pechersk, as Nestor notes, with all his spiritual wisdom was a simple mind. The "thin robe" that accompanies him during his abbess also brings a lot of ridicule.
The story of the prince's servant, who took the reverend for one of the wretched and ordered him to transfer from the cart to the horse, is noted. Since childhood, social humiliation and simplification has been one of the features of its holiness. Put at the head of the monastery, Theodosius did not change his temper. Despite his quietness and self-abasement, he teaches a lot in sermons, which are distinguished by the simplicity of form and content. Theodosius also tries to abide by the monastic charter to the smallest detail in all its details and wants everything to be done in order and with reverence. However, for all his exactingness, Theodosius did not like to resort to punishment. He was gentle even to those who, having run away, returned with repentance. The only kind of severity was in relation to the economic affairs of the monastery.
Saint Theodosius of the Caves
Nestor describes the stories of Kelar Fyodor about how the holy abbot saved the monastery from different needs. These miracles, along with the gift of insight, are the only ones performed by St. Theodosius of the Caves. Through all abbot wonders passes the ban of the saint to take care of tomorrow, his wasteful mercy. For example, miraculous filling of bins occurs in the order of natural law: while the monastery economist despairs from thoughts of what to cook dinner for or where to find wine for the liturgy, an unknown benefactor brings carts of wine and bread to the monastery. From the life of the saint, it seems that the monastery exists only due to the non-decreasing flow of alms.
Saint Theodosius very much cares about the authorized poverty - he takes away all excess food and clothes on his cells and burns all this in the oven. He does the same with all that is done without blessing. An all-forgiving and good abbess becomes severe in disobedience, which follows from economic calculation. It is noteworthy that here he does not punish the guilty, but destroys only material goods, which, as he believed, absorbed the demonic principles of greed and self-will.
The mercy of St. Theodosius
Remaining meek and merciful always and in everything, equally treating the robbers who came to rob his monastery, or the sinful and weak monks, Saint Theodosius of the Caves not only did not isolate his monastery from the world, but also created close ties with secular society. This is one of his precepts to Russian monasticism.
Near the monastery was built a house for the blind, lame and sick with a church in the name of St. Stefan. The tenth of the monastery’s income went to the maintenance of this almshouse. On Saturdays, Theodosius sent a whole cart of bread to the city for prisoners in prisons.
The Monk Theodosius was the spiritual father of many laity, including princes and boyars, who came to confess their sins. He laid the foundation for the tradition of choosing spiritual fathers among monks. Since that time, the clergy began to exert even greater influence on the moral condition of the people.
A quiet and gentle mentor could be firm and relentless in those cases when it was a question of scolded truth. One of Nestor’s latest stories tells about his intercession for an offended widow who came to him for help and, not recognizing him in miserable clothes, spoke about her misfortune.
The love of St. Theodosius
Intransigence to untruth leads the abbot to clashes not only with judges, but also with princes. His spiritual confrontation with Prince Svyatoslav, depicted in his life, completes the spiritual portrait of Theodosius and is a symbol of the Church’s attitude to the state of Ancient Russia. When two brothers expel the elder from the Kiev throne, take possession of the city and call on Feofan's feast, he refuses and convicts the brothers of the sins of murders and illegal possession of power, compares Prince Svyatoslav with Cain, and his brother with Abel. As a result, Prince Svyatoslav becomes angry. Rumors are circulating about the expulsion of Theodosius.
Svyatoslav could not raise his hand to the righteous and, in the end, comes with humility to the monastery to Theodosius with an attempt to make peace. Many times the righteous Theodosius unsuccessfully tried to beg Svyatoslav to reconcile with his brother, trying to reach the heart of the Kiev prince. In the monastery, he orders everyone to pray for the legitimate exiled prince, and only after long requests from the brethren does he agree to remember Svyatoslav in second place.
The life of St. Theodosius shows that the saint was ready for the truth to go into exile and death, obeyed the law of love and life expediency. He considered it his duty to teach the princes, and it was their duty to obey his teachings. But Theodosius appears in relation to the princes not as having power, but as the embodiment of the meek power of Christ. Prayer to Theodosius of the Caves calls for the unshakable piety of souls and bodies, help and intercession, piety of the main figures of the country.
Such was Theodosius, living a holistic spiritual life, pouring out the Light of Christ from the depths of his soul, measuring out feats and virtue with the gospel measure. So he remained in the memory of Russian asceticism, such is the life of Theodosius of the Caves.