Saint Theodulus

(circa 450).

He was prefect of Constantinople under Theodosius the Great. The spectacle of the corruption of those he administered disgusted him with the world. God having called to Himself the woman to whom he had been united for only two years, he abandoned wealth and dignities, and retired to a stylite column near Edessa, in Syria. He had been there for many years when the thought came to him to offer this prayer to God: Lord, he said, if I have deserved to please You, make known to me which of Your servants who fight and suffer in this world I may compare myself to. A voice was heard and replied: You are not inferior to the comedian Cornelius, nicknamed the Harp Player, who lives in Damascus. Immediately Theodulus descende Théodule Former prefect of Constantinople who became a stylite in the 5th century. d from his column and set out for Damascus. Having met Cornelius, he threw himself at his feet and asked him what his way of life was. Pressed by the prayers of the Stylite, Cornelius replied: Alas! Father, raised from my childhood among the entertainers and mimes, I led their way of life, committing all sorts of enormous crimes. At night, however, my thoughts sometimes rested on the universal judgment. I came to detest my sins, to ask for forgiveness for them, to resolve to conduct myself better, and I gave as much alms as was in my power. Theodulus did not consider himself satisfied and pressed his interlocutor further. The latter added: A woman, as noble as she was rich and beautiful, fell to a man who led a life of debauchery, and soon dissipated not only his own assets, but those of his wife. The prodigal husband was thrown into prison at the request of the usurers who had ruined him. The unfortunate wife began to beg to gather enough to free him. I met this woman and noticed that while holding out her hand, she turned away her face, red with shame. I asked her what series of unfortunate events had reduced her, so beautiful and so young, to this miserable condition of a beggar, where her virtue was so exposed. Having learned everything, tears came to my eyes and I said to her: How much do you need, noble woman, to pay your husband's debts? — Four hundred crowns, she replied. Then, taking inventory of my fortune, I discovered that I did not possess more than two hundred and thirty crowns: the gap was enormous. I sold some furniture and luxury items, and realized seventy crowns from this. To complete the sum, I threw into the hands of this unhappy woman my precious clothes and the necklace I wore around my neck. Here, dear lady, I said to her, consider all this as yours, and go and take your husband out of prison.