Blessed, Fool for Christ Theodore of Novgorod

Blessed Theodore was born to a wealthy and respected merchant family of Novgorod and was raised in Christian piety. Upon reaching maturity, he took up the feat of foolishness for Christ's sake, distributed his wealth to the poor, and spent the rest of his life in extreme poverty, lacking shelter and warm clothing even in the bitterest frosts. He exposed the mutual enmity between the residents of Novgorod's Trade Side and Sophia Side, divided by the Volkhov River: he feigned hostility and "chased" across the bridge with Blessed Nicholas Kochanov, who labored on the opposite, Sophia Side, vividly demonstrating the absurdity of human discord. He was granted by the Lord the gift of clairvoyance and prophecy: he predicted to the Novgorodians a poor harvest and a fire that devastated the streets of the Trade Side. Before his death he was warned by an angel and spent his final day going about the city saying, "Farewell, I am going far away." He died peacefully on January 19, 1392. His body was buried at the Church of the Great Martyr George on the Trade Side, where those who came with faith received healing. IMPORTANT: this is a DIFFERENT saint from the right-believing Prince Theodore Yaroslavich of Novgorod (brother of St. Alexander Nevsky, †c. 1233).