Celebration in honor of the discovery of the relics of the noble princes Theodore of Smolensk and his children David and Constantine (18/03)

The Holy Blessed Prince Theodore was the son of the Smolensk prince Rostislav Mstislavovich and descended from the holy Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir. Prince Theodore is believed to have been born between 1240 and 1245. According to the testimony of his life writer, the prince was raised in piety from a young age and taught the divine dogmas with which his heart was lovingly filled.

Theodore had two brothers, Gleb and Mikhail, who, after the death of their father, offended him, giving him only the city of Mozhaisk as an inheritance. Theodore was not angry with his brothers and patiently owned this inheritance. In those days, Mozhaisk was still a very young, poor and sparsely populated town with a small area and adjacent villages. But Theodore accepted the inheritance resignedly, thinking most of all about acquiring the treasure of the unsteen, incorruptible, eternal.

In a short time, the smart and kind prince managed to make his destiny both crowded and not poor, for which he earned the reverent love of the people. Around 1267, Prince Theodore married the Rostov princess Maria Vasilievna, after which he took possession of the city of Yaroslavl. After the death of his brother Mikhail, he also inherited the reign of Smolensk, living piously and godly in Yaroslavl.

In those days, the times of the Tatar yoke, there was a custom for Russian princes to go to the Horde to visit the khan to establish themselves in princely dignity. Yaroslavl Prince Theodore also went there with numerous gifts for the khan and his wife. He was received very favorably in the Horde and served at the court of the khan as a very respected favorite. His courageous beauty and intelligence incredibly captivated the khan’s wife, and she wanted to marry her daughter to him. But Theodore did not accept her offer, saying that he had a wife in Yaroslavl.

Having asked himself from the khan for approval to reign in Yaroslavl and having received this, the blessed Prince Theodore left the Horde for home. Arriving in Yaroslavl, he learned that his wife had died. Theodore wanted to enter the city where his son Mikhail and mother-in-law lived at that time, but the boyars and mother-in-law did not let him in, saying: «We are not in custom, — they said, — to accept as princes someone coming from a foreign land; It’s enough for us to have the heir Theodore, Michael», as our prince.

Saint Theodore again went to the Horde to ask the khan, but again the Yaroslavl people did not allow the prince into the city. And again the khan’s wife wooed her daughter for Theodore. But now the khan himself did not agree to give his daughter to a non-believer. It was a long time before the permitted wedding took place, and the khan's daughter was named Anna after baptism.

The newlyweds lived in the Horde, and Prince Theodore was respected and loved by the khan. Theodore and Anna had two sons — David and Constantine. Soon Theodore received news that his Russian son Mikhail had died, and Theodore began to ask the khan to release him to Russian soil along with the princess and sons.

The Holy Prince arrived in Yaroslavl with great honor and reigned piously and pleasingly in his city of Yaroslavl until a very old age. Having fallen ill and feeling that this disease was — dying, he invited his princess-wife and his children to his place and bequeathed to them to remain in love and peace. Then he ordered himself to be taken to the monastery and there, with great joy, he accepted the monastic image from the abbot and throughout that day rejoiced and thanked God for the fact that He had likened him to this gift, which his soul had long desired.

Theodore died in 1299. He was buried in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord. His son and successor Prince David died in 1321, and the year of Prince Constantine's death has not been precisely established. The bodies of the sons, according to the desire they expressed during their lifetime, were laid near the body of their father, in a crypt under the arches of the temple, not in the ground, but on top of it in tombs.

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