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Venerable (Monastic)14th century

Venerable Leontios of Achaia

Also known as Leontius of Monemvasia

A man of a prominent family of Monemvasia who left worldly prospects for monastic asceticism.

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Life

Leontios of Achaia was a monastic saint of the late Byzantine and post-Byzantine Peloponnese, remembered for renouncing a distinguished worldly career and family standing in Monemvasia to take up the ascetic life. He is venerated in the Orthodox Church on December 10 (December 11 in the Greek tradition).

Born into a prominent family and baptized Leon, he was given a learned education before personal losses turned him toward monasticism. After tonsure he trained under an experienced ascetic and spent time on Mount Athos, then withdrew to the mountains of Achaia in the northern Peloponnese, where he became a preacher and a focus of monastic settlement.

Troparion & Kontakion2 hymnsReadHide
TroparionTone 1

(Podoben: “Your tomb, O Savior...”) You shone forth in asceticism, like gold in the furnace, with your divine teachings,
you enlightened the choirs of monastics who followed you, O God-bearer Leóntios,
and today, as we celebrate your radiant memory,
we ask you to intercede with the Lord for us.

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

KontakionTone 2

(Podoben: “You sought the heights...”) Having divinely armed yourself with the purity of your soul,
and firmly grasping unceasing prayer as a spear, you pierced the armies of demons.
Therefore, we beseech you, O our Father Leontius,
always intercede for us who honor you.

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

Timeline5 momentsReadHide
  1. Birth and upbringing in MonemvasiaHe was born at Monemvasia in the Peloponnese into a prominent family and baptized with the name Leon. Sources name his parents as Andrew and Theodora.
  2. Education at ConstantinopleHe studied at Constantinople, where the tradition records that he pursued languages, philosophy, and theology (philosophy and the sciences), and according to the OCA life was given a position in the administration of the Morea.
  3. Family losses and monastic tonsureAfter his father's death he returned to care for his mother; once she had entered a monastery he married, but his wife and children later died. Following these losses he became a monk and received the name Leontios.
  4. Asceticism and Mount AthosHe trained under an experienced ascetic named Menides and then spent time on Mount Athos before returning to the Peloponnese.
  5. Ministry in AchaiaHe settled on a mountain near Aigialeia in the northern Peloponnese and preached throughout Achaia, drawing many who later entered the clergy; a monastery of the Archangels grew up at the site of his ascetic struggle.

Contributions & Legacy

3 contributionsReadHide

Background and education

The sources agree that Leontios came from a prominent family of Monemvasia and was baptized Leon. The OCA life describes his parents as Andrew and Theodora and records that he studied foreign languages, philosophy, and theology at Constantinople, after which he was appointed to an important position in the central administration of the Morea (the Peloponnese).

A later tradition, reflected in Wikipedia and Greek accounts, elaborates his lineage, naming his mother Theodora as a daughter of the emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and his father Andrew as governor of the Peloponnese. These dynastic details are not uniformly attested and are reported here as tradition.

Monastic life and ministry

After his father's death Leontios returned to care for his mother; once she withdrew to a monastery he married and, by the OCA account, was a model husband and head of his household. The death of his wife and children turned him to the monastic life, in which he received the name Leontios.

He is said to have trained under an experienced ascetic named Menides and to have spent time on Mount Athos before returning to the Peloponnese. He then settled on a mountain near Aigialeia, in the region of Achaia, where he lived as a hermit and preached the faith through the cities of Achaia, influencing many who entered the clergy.

Repose, monastery, and relics

Leontios reposed peacefully. At the site of his ascetic struggle a monastery of the Archangels arose; the sources differ on the founders, the OCA life naming the brothers Thomas and Anthony Palaiologos and Greek accounts naming his uncles Thomas and Demetrios Palaiologos as patrons of the foundation, which is identified with the Monastery of the Taxiarchs (Pammegiston Taxiarchon) near Aigio.

His relics are kept in a shrine in the church of the Holy Archangels within the monastery at Aigialeia. While the anchor record places him in the post-Byzantine, fourteenth-century context, some external sources date his birth to 1377 and his repose to 1452; these dates are reported by those sources but are not certain.

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Sources: OCA Synaxarion (oca.org), Lives of the Saints