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Venerable (Monastic)5th century

Venerable Theodulus of Sinai

5th century

Also known as Theodulus, son of St. Nilus of Sinai

Son of St. Nilus of Sinai, taken captive by raiders and later reunited with his father, who recorded the sufferings of the Sinai fathers.

January 14New Calendar
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January 27Old Calendar
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Commemorated as

Our Venerable Father Theodulus of Sinai

Life

Theodulus of Sinai was a fifth-century monastic of Mount Sinai and the son of Saint Nilus of Sinai (Nilus the Faster). As a child he left the world and went to Mount Sinai with his father to take up the monastic life. He is remembered chiefly for his captivity during a barbarian raid on the Sinai desert-dwellers and for his eventual reunion with his father, who recorded the sufferings of the Sinai fathers in his writings.

He is commemorated on January 14 together with the Holy Monastic Fathers slain at Sinai and Raithu.

Troparion1 hymnReadHide
TroparionTone 8

By a flood of tears you made the desert fertile,
and your longing for God brought forth fruits in abundance.
By the radiance of miracles you illumined the whole universe!
O our holy father Theodulus, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Text used with permission of the Orthodox Church in America (oca.org).

Timeline3 momentsReadHide
  1. 5th centuryMonastic life at SinaiTheodulus left the world while still a child and went to Mount Sinai with his father, the monk Nilus, to live the ascetic life among the desert-dwellers.
  2. 5th centuryCaptivity and slaveryDuring a raid by Saracen barbarians on the Sinai region, Theodulus was taken captive. The raiders sold him into slavery, and he eventually came into the possession of a bishop at Elusa in Palestine, who made him doorkeeper of the church and later ordained him a priest.
  3. 5th centuryReunion and return to SinaiHis father left Sinai to search for him and at last found him at Elusa. The bishop permitted father and son to return together to Mount Sinai, where, according to the account, a cave served as their dwelling.

Contributions & Legacy

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The Raid on Sinai and Raithu

The monastic settlements of Mount Sinai and nearby Raithu were repeatedly exposed to attacks by desert raiders. The Church commemorates the Holy Fathers slain at Sinai and Raithu on January 14, recalling occasions on which monks and hermits of these communities were killed by barbarians.

It was during such a barbarian assault on the desert-dwellers that Theodulus was seized and carried off, an event preserved in the account his father wrote of the sufferings of the Sinai fathers.

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Notable Works

  • Account of the slaughter of the monks at Sinai (recorded with his father Nilus) — Theodulus is associated with the recording of the slaughter of the holy Fathers at Raithu; his captivity and the Saracen raid are described in the narrative written by his father Nilus concerning the slaying of the monks of Mount Sinai.
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The Holy Fathers Slain at Sinai and Raithu
Commemorated together · Jan 14
Family1 relativeShowHide
Family
His father, the monastic writer who accompanied him to Mount Sinai and later recorded the slaughter of the Sinai monks and the captivity of his son.
Venerable Neilosthe Ascetic of Sinai
Companions1 figureShowHide
Fellow Sinai father: a contemporary ascetic of the Raithu desert, commemorated together on January 14 among the Holy Fathers of Sinai and Raithu.
Venerable Joseph Analytinusof Raithu
Related Saints3 saintsShowHide

Saints connected to his life, mission, and place in Orthodox tradition.

Commemorated together: the monks of Sinai and Raithu killed by desert raiders, among whom Theodulus is commemorated on January 14.
Fathers Slain at Sinai and Raithu
Same monastic tradition: the great abbot of Sinai, heir to the monastic life of the Sinai fathers.
John Climacus
Same monastic tradition: a later father and abbot of the Sinai monastic community.
Anastasiusof Sinai

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Jan 14