September 19: Theodore of Tarsus, Archbishop of Canterbury, 690

The Collect of the Day

Theodore of Tarsus

Almighty God, who gave your servant Theodore of Tarsus gifts of grace and wisdom to establish unity where there had been division and order where there had been chaos: Create in your church, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, such godly union and concord that it may proclaim, both by word and example, the Gospel of the Prince of Peace; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Theodore of Tarsus

Almighty God, who didst give thy servant Theodore of Tarsus gifts of grace and wisdom to establish unity where there had been division and order where there had been chaos: Create in thy church, we pray thee, by the operation of the Holy Ghost, such godly union and concord that it may proclaim, both by word and example, the Gospel of the Prince of Peace; who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

James 2:14–26
Psalm 34:9–14
Matthew 24:42–47

Theodore was born in Asia Minor in 602 in Saint Paul’s native city of Tarsus. He was ordained as Archbishop of Canterbury by Pope Vitalian on March 26th, 668.

A learned monk of the East, Theodore was residing in Rome when the English church, decimated by plague and torn with strife over rival Celtic and Roman customs, was in need of strong leadership. Theodore provided this for a generation, beginning his episcopate at an age when most people are ready to retire.

When Theodore came to England, he established a school at Canterbury that gained a reputation for excellence in all branches of learning and where many leaders of both the Irish and the English churches were trained. His effective visitation of all England brought unity to the two strains of tradition among the Anglo-Saxon Christians. For example, he recognized Chad’s worthiness and regularized his episcopal ordination.

Theodore gave definitive boundaries to English dioceses, so that their bishops could give better pastoral attention to their people. He presided over synods that brought about reforms, according to established rules of canon law. He also laid the foundations of the parochial organization that still persists in the English church.

According to Bede, Theodore was the first archbishop whom all the English obeyed, and possibly to no other leader does English Christianity owe so much. He died in his eighty-eighth year on September 19th, 690, and was buried, with Augustine and the other early English archbishops, in the monastic Church of Saints Peter and Paul at Canterbury.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

⁹Fear the Lord, you that are his saints, *for those who fear him lack nothing.

¹⁰The young lions lack and suffer hunger, *but those who seek the Lord lack nothing that is good.

¹¹Come, children, and listen to me; *I will teach you the fear of the Lord.

¹²Who among you loves life *and desires long life to enjoy prosperity?

¹³Keep your tongue from evil-speaking *and your lips from lying words.

¹⁴Turn from evil and do good; *seek peace and pursue it.

Gospel

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but do not have works? Can faith save you? ¹⁵If a brother or sister is naked and lacks daily food, ¹⁶and one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and eat your fill,” and yet you do not supply their bodily needs, what is the good of that? ¹⁷So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead. ¹⁸But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I by my works will show you my faith. ¹⁹You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder. ²⁰Do you want to be shown, you senseless person, that faith apart from works is barren? ²¹Was not our ancestor Abraham justified by works when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? ²²You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was brought to completion by the works. ²³Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness,” and he was called the friend of God. ²⁴You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. ²⁵Likewise, was not Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by another road? ²⁶For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead.