African Saints (from the Prologue of Ohrid)
September 11th Theodora of Alexandria (490) She was a married young woman who committed adultery. Mourning what she had done, Theodora cut off her hair, dressed as a man, and gained entrance to a men’s monastery where she was heralded for her ascetic disciplines under the name Theodore. A wicked woman accused this monk of getting her pregnant. Rather than reveal his secret as a defense, Theodora accepted the accusation as punishment for her earlier sin. She was banished from the monastery for seven years and endured harsh temptations as she took care of the child that was not hers. She was allowed back in the monastery where she lived another two years before her death. The other monks saw that Theodore was really Theodora. Her husband came to her burial and lived in her cell.
Euphrosymus the Cook (9th century) He was a cook in an Amorean monastery. His spiritual father once dreamed that he was in heaven and saw Euphrosymus there as well. The cook picked and gave him three apples. When he woke up, there were three very nice apples by his pillow. He ran to the cook and asked, “Where were you last night?” “Where you were,” Euphrosymus replied. The father told the other monks. But Euphrosymus feared the praise of men and lived in the wilderness instead.
September 12th Theodore (1st century) Martyred in Alexandria.
September 13th Serapion, Cronides, and Leontius (237) Martyred in Alexandria
Eulogius I (608) Patriarch of Alexandria
A Word from the Fathers & Mothers
“Just as no one dares offend anyone standing near the king, in the same way Satan can do nothing to us if we always have the memory of God in our heart.” Ammah Theodora, from the Matericon
“Truly, our Lord is rich and loves us, and we do not listen to him; while our enemy the devil is poor and hates us, but we love his impurity.” Abba Macarius the Great, from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers
Desert Fathers Dispatch 