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Leaving her house she went to Bithynia, in the vicinity of her brother’s monastery, which,
however, had suffered severe damage due to the Iconomachy. Theoktisti shared a cell with her
daughter, already a nun, and another woman relative. The men of the family followed her and thus
was founded the monastery of Sakkoudion in Bithynia, with St. Plato as its prior. However, their
opposition to the second marriage of the emperor brought about new calamities: the monastery
suffered great damages and several of its monks were exiled. On their way, they arranged for a
secret meeting with Theoktiste, who gave them her blessing – for which she was criticized by certain
members of their household, as is noted. 40 She then took care of the monks remaining in the
monastery and those imprisoned in Constantinople; she even spent a month in prison herself – to be
again rebuked by some. It is not made clear if she was criticized for her positions or for supporting
them actively, despite being a woman.
At the time of her death, in Constantinople, she was surrounded by her family; she seemed eager
to leave this world, concludes Theodoros, as if in a rush to meet two of her children who had died
before her.
III. St. Anna of Lefkati, an ascetic nun (mid‐9th c.)
Anna lived at the time of emperor Theophilos (AD 829‐842), the last supporter of Iconomachy. 41
The daughter of a distinguished, wealthy family, she lost her father early and was raised “into virtue”
by her mother, after whose death Anna devoted herself to helping the poor and destitute. However,
“a bad mannered newcomer to the royal court, a Hagarinos [descendant of Hagar],” obtained the
consent of the emperor, Basil I, to marry her and, on her refusal, subjected her to torturous pressure;
Anna turned to God for help and, soon after, her persecutor died. After that, she gave up lay life,
seeking shelter in a church of St Mary at Lefkati (a cape to the south of Chalcedon). 42
Following the steps of the most austere ascetics, she started exercising in staying awake,
abstinence and fasting – she fasted for two or three days in a row, sometimes for a whole week, and
then had a little food; “in this way she depleted her body so much that all her bones became visible
[…], her muscle melted away, becoming almost dead, and her bones were covered only by the skin,
presenting an image in the exact way the Maker molded it”.
She lived in this way for 50 years, and died after a short illness, to be buried in the family tomb.
Years later some “people possessed by daemons” disinterred her body, which had miraculously
remained intact and gave up incense – a sign of sanctity. Thanks to it, people carrying illnesses of the
body or the spirit were healed.
St. Maria of Bithynia, a virgin among the monks
Maria was a girl from Bithynia – no time specification is known about her. 43 She lost her mother in
childhood and was raised by her father, who wished to leave her in charge of his property and
become a monk. Maria begged him to take her with him, so they gave away most of their goods and
the rest to the monastery where they had been accepted – Maria, under the name of Marinos,
passed as a delicate youth.
Marinos was very competent and became the prior’s favorite. Once he was sent, along with two
other brothers, to do some errands for the monastery and had to spend the night at an inn. The
daughter of its keeper was seduced at that time by a soldier and became pregnant. To her furious
father she blamed the handsome monk Marinos, who consequently was thrown out of the
monastery. Relying on the mercy of passers‐by and a small garden that he tended, he survived and
also raised the child, since the inn‐keeper left it in his care soon after it was born.
The years passed and the monks, feeling sorry for their brother, asked the prior to allow him in
again. Thus Marinos returned inside the monastery – but now he had to do the dirtiest and heaviest
jobs. He never complained. When, one day, he did not show up for Mass, his brothers went to his cell
and found him dead. Upon preparing his body for burial, they realized it was a woman’s. The prior
prayed to be forgiven for the fact that he had done an injustice to someone so humble and faithful to
the monastery, a real saint. 44
Conclusion