Venerable Timothy of Olympus, in Symbola

Venerable Timothy of Olympus, in Symbola, was an ascetic of the 8th–9th centuries, Italian by birth. From his youth he chose the monastic path and settled in the monastery called "Symbola," located in Asia Minor near Mount Olympus in Bithynia, south of ancient Prusa. The monastery's abbot was Venerable Theoctistus, under whom Timothy trained in monastic labor together with Venerable Platon, later confessor and abbot of the Stoudion (+814). Timothy was known for strict fasting, prolonged vigil, and unceasing prayer; having vowed to preserve chastity, he avoided even looking upon women's faces to the end of his life. For his exalted ascetic life the Lord granted him the gift of healing diseases and casting out unclean spirits. For many years he lived as a hermit, wandering in desert mountains and forests in silent prayer. He reposed in extreme old age around the year 795, having gained renown as a wonderworker.