Feb 032013
![[Saint Theophilus holy card]](http://saints.sqpn.com/saintt46.jpg "17kb jpg detail from an Italian holy card, artist unknown")
Profile
Archdeacon and treasurer of the church in Adana, Cilicia (in modern Turkey). Offered the bishopric of Adana, he declined, saying he was not adequate to the task. Due to slander accusing him of theft of church funds, the new bishop removed him from his position. In anger, Theophilus signed a pact with a demon to avenge himself on the bishop and regain his position. When he came to his senses, he begged for the help of Our Lady who intervened, recovered the pact, and tore it up. The pact was burned in the public square, and this legend has figured in many dramas since, including Goethe’s Faust.
- c.538
- archdeacon making a pact with the devil from which he is rescued by the Virgin; sometimes she is shown handing him back the contract
Additional Information
- Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
- Heiligen 3s
- Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
MLA Citation
- “Saint Theophilus the Penitent“. Saints.SQPN.com. 3 February 2013. Web. 23 May 2013. <>
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