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Who
is St Theodore? |
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St.
Theodore of Tarsus is also known as St. Theodore of Canterbury
Nearly everything we know about St. Theodore comes from the writings of the Venerable Bede. Born in Tarsus Theodore was a Greek educated in Athens and who became a monk. While in Italy Theodore was introduced to Pope Vitalian who considered him an appropriate candidate for the Archbishopric of Canterbury. He was ordained at the age of 65 on 26th March 668. Upon his arrival in England on 27th May
669 he found the church decimated by plague and divided between
rival Celtic and Roman customs. Strong leadership was required and
Theodore offered this at an age that people today would be retiring.
He visited much of the country bringing unity between factions and
customs. He established a school at Canterbury that gained a reputation
for excellence and breadth of learning in scripture, Latin, Greek,
poetry, Roman Law, calligraphy, astronomy, music and medicine. Theodore
filled vacant sees and held the first synod of the Anglo-Saxon church
in Hertford in 672 which settled the annual timing of Easter followed
by a second synod in Heathfield. |
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St Theodore depicted
in the East window of St.Theodore's Church. |
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| Theodore's abiding legacy was the creation of more dioceses in England and ensuring that each diocese had definitive boundaries with an orthodox bishop who could give better pastoral attention their people. In similar vein Theodore laid the foundations of the parochial system. In this sense the Church of England and the Church in Wales' present day diocesan and parish structures arise directly from Theodore's work and mission. |  |
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St. Augustines Abbey where
St. Theodore was buried. |
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| The Venerable Bede's judgement is that the English church prospered under Theodore who was the first Archbishop to be willingly obeyed throughout England. | |||||||||
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