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Her church in the Peloponnese has become a great place of pilgrimage in Greece, where many hasten for healings of soul and body, or solely to see the miraculous trees that are part of her chapel. St Theodora lived during the tenth century on the Peloponnesus in Greece, near the border between the regions of Messenia and Arcadia in a town called Vasta.
When the area was raided by bandits, Theodora was determined to help defend her village, but as a woman it was unthinkable to do so. Not to be deterred, Theodora secretly disguised herself as a male soldier in order to join the defense. She did not survive.
On her death bed, tradition holds that she prayed: “My Christ, forgive my enemies. Let my body become a church, my hair a forest of trees, and my blood a spring to water them.” This became true, for at the site of her martyrdom was built a church. “This small chapel supports 17 large trees that emerge from the roof and the walls of the chapel. Each tree weighs close to a ton and stands over 20 meters high. For hundreds of years, the roots have not been visible.
Locals could not find a scientific explanation for this phenomenon. Many researchers have spent years studying this structure, even X-raying the walls, but have no explanation for the roots of the trees. In 2003, a geophysical report was presented at the 4th Symposium of Archaeometry in Greece. The results of this investigation proved that the roots followed the gaps existing inside the stone wall of the chapel creating repulsion stresses between the stones and thus reaching the ground.
Feast Day: 11th September
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