View source for Theodoros the Great Ascetic

Our father among the [[saint]]s '''Theodoros the Great Ascetic''' (also known as '''Theodore of Edessa''') was a [[monk]] of the [[monastery]] of [[Holy Lavra of St. Savas (Jerusalem)|St. Savas]] near Jerusalem who became [[bishop]] of Edessa in Syria.  His [[feast day]] is celebrated on [[July 9]] or [[July 19]]. [http://www.doaks.org/saints2/dohp.asp?cmd=SShow&Key=32 His ''Life'' was written by Basil of Emesa].  The work ''A Century of Spiritual Texts'' is included in the ''Philokalia'' and is believed to have been written by St. Theodoros.

In the middle of the 9th century, St. Theodore of Edessa [[conversion|converted]] the "Saracen king," Muawid, one of the three sons of the Umayyad caliph Mutawakkil (847-861 A.D.), to Orthodoxy, [[baptism|baptizing]] him with the name ''John'' together with his three confidants. [http://www.orthodoxytoday.org/articles4/MaximovMuslims.shtml]

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