EUTIMIO il GRANDE, saint. – An eminent ascetic, born at Melitene in Armenia in 377, died in Palestine in 473. He owed his name to the fact that his parents, asking God for a son, were exhorted by a divine voice to be of good cheer (εὐθυμία). He was educated at Melitene by the bishops Ottreio and Acacio, was ordained priest, and was entrusted with the care of the monasteries. Soon, however, he went to Jerusalem (406) and, seeking solitude, lived for five years in the lavra of Faran, then in a cave and in several inhospitable places, where the fame of his miracles compelled him to withdraw. Yet new lavras continually flourished around him, and for this reason he is regarded as the founder of this form of monasticism in Palestine. The church of the principal one of these, which subsequently bore the name of E., was consecrated by the patriarch Giovenale in 420. There he was on friendly terms with St. Giovanni Silenziario, St. Ciriaco, and St. Saba. He died almost a centenarian under Leone I il Tracio.
His life was written in the sixth century by the monk Cirillo, particularly esteemed by Baronio. His feast is observed in both East and West on 20 January.
He converted many “Hagarenes” to the true faith; he joyfully learned of the condemnation of Nestorio at the First Council of Ephesus (431), but he worked especially for that of Chalcedon (451), opposing Teodosio, the pseudo-bishop of Jerusalem and a Eutychian, whose calumnies were spreading among the monks. The return to the faith of the empress Eudossia is likewise due to him; she summoned him to consult him.