THEONA, Saint. - Patriarch of Alexandria, he succeeded Maximus; he governed for 19 years from 281 to c. 300.

The Arabic-Jacobite Synaxarion, which commemorates him on 28 December (PO, XI, p. 214 ff.), states that he was a very learned man, full of goodness and virtue. His long episcopate coincided with the peace that the Church enjoyed at the beginning of the reign of Diocletian, and T. took advantage of it to organize his Church; he converted many pagans and began the construction of a church which was later completed by his successor Alexander (cf. St. Athanasius, Apologia ad Constantium, 15; St. Epiphanius, Panarion, LXIX, 2). During his episcopate the great scholar Pierius flourished, and he initiated into the sacred Orders Peter, who later succeeded him. A letter written to Lucian, great chamberlain of the court of Diocletian, is attributed to him, and he is said to have excommunicated the followers of Sabellius. In the Roman Martyrology he is commemorated on 23 August.

Bibliography6 works

BIBL.: Eusebius, Hist. eccl., VII, 33; Tillemont, IV, pp. 378-583; Acta SS. Iunii, VII, Paris 1867, p. 27ᵃ ff.; Augusti, IV, III 1867, pp. 579-87; B. Evetta, Hist. of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of Alex., in PO, I, 206-11 (Arabic-English text of the life of T.); Martyr. Romanum, p. 355.

Agostino Amore

@incollection{ec11_teona_santo, author = {Amore, Agostino}, title = {Teona, santo}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {1976--1977}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/teona-santo} }

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Theona, Saint

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