Thalassios (Syria)

Thalassios († February 22, 440 ) was a saint , hermit and ascetic in Kyrrhos in Syria .

Life and legend

Thalassios was born in the second half of the 4th century, the Eastern Roman Emperor retired after 379 in the reign of Theodosius I. as a hermit at the tombs of the holy physicians Cosmas and Damian back. These miracle workers suffered their martyrdom at the beginning of the Diocletian persecution of Christians in the year 303. Thalassios practiced the ascetic exercise of "silence" for the veneration of saints , a silent devotion which he also imparted to his numerous students. Through this asceticism he also acquired the gift of miracles. One of his students was Macedonios the Barley Eater, who in 393 predicted the birth of Theodoret whose parents had been childless for twelve years. Theodoret - the theophore name means "the gift of God" - received an excellent theological training from Theodor von Mopsuestia and was elected bishop of Kyrrhos in 423. Thalassios then received all conceivable support from his new bishop and thus also many new students, to whom he owes his subsequent veneration. The year 440 is given as the year of his death in Orthodox tradition.

Adoration

Thalassios is venerated in the Eastern Churches on February 22nd, together with his disciple Limnäos and the Syrian monk and hermit Baradates of Antioch, who also practiced silent devotion and died around 460.

literature

• Nikolaj Velimirović : The prologue of Ohrid. Verlag Johannes A. Wolf, Apelern 2009, ISBN 978-3-937912-04-2 , p. 130.

Web links

• Joachim Schäfer: Article February 22nd, from the Ecumenical Saint Lexicon , accessed on February 22nd, 2015