Venerable
Venerable Theoctiste of Lesbos (Paros)
IX в. — † ок. 881
Also known as: Феоктиста Паросская
Venerable Theoctiste of Lesbos — a nun who fled the Arab raid of 846 to the uninhabited island of Paros, where she lived in solitary asceticism for about 35 years.
Venerable Theoctiste was born in the city of Mithymna on the island of Lesbos, was orphaned early, and was raised in a monastery, where she was tonsured a nun at 18. During the Arab raid of 846, fleeing the invaders, she escaped to the then-uninhabited island of Paros, where she lived in complete solitude and severe asceticism for about 35 years.
In all that time she received Holy Communion only once — when a hunter who found her near death (his dog had discovered the ascetic) returned a year later with a portion of the reserved Gifts. Soon after, the saint died peacefully around 881.
IMPORTANT CORRECTION: the saint died peacefully after decades of hermitic life and did not suffer martyrdom — the category has been corrected from "martyr" to "venerable."
Her feast is kept on November 9/22.