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Theophilus of Adana

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Saint Theophilus the Penitent or Theophilus of Adana (died ca. 538) made a deal with the devil to gain an ecclesiastical position. His story is significant as it is the oldest story of a pact with the Devil, and was an inspiration for the Faust legend. His feast day is February 4.

Legend

Eutyches, who claimed to be an eyewitness of the events, is the first to record Theophilus' story. Although Theophilus is considered to be a historical personage, the tale associated with him is of an apocryphal nature.

Theophilus was the archdeacon of Adana, Cilicia which is part of modern Turkey. He was unanimously elected to be a bishop, but turned the position down out of humility. Another man was elected in his stead. When the new bishop unjustly deprived Thophilus of his position as archdeacon, Theophilus regretted his humility and sought out a wizard to help him contact Satan. In exchange for his aid, Satan demanded that Theophilus renounce Christ and the Virgin Mary in a contract signed with his own blood. Theophilus complied, and the devil gave him the position as bishop.

Years later, fearful for his soul, Theophilus repented and prayed to the Virgin for forgiveness. After forty days of fasting, the Virgin appeared to him and said, "O Theophilus, what hast thou done? Thou hast renounced My friendship and that of My Son, and for whom? For His and My enemy." To which Theophilus replied, "O Lady, thou must pardon me, and obtain my forgiveness from Thy Son." And Mary said, "Be of good heart; I will intercede for thee with God." He then fasted a further thirty days, at which time Mary appeared to him again, and granted him absolution. However, Satan was unwilling to relinquish his hold over Theophilus, and it was a further three days before Theophilus awoke to find the damning contract on his chest. He then took the contract to the legitimate bishop and confessed all that he had done. The bishop burned the document, and Theophilus expired, out of sheer joy to be free from the burden of his contract.

Connection to Classical Literature

Although the tale of Theophilus may seem to be original, with the hero lost but for the intercession of a female deity inspired by an individual's fervent prayers, this kind of plot device is anything but new. A writer from North Africa in the 2nd Century, Apuleius had already composed an epic adventure, where an innocent and foolish hero, in quest of magic and sorcery, and nearly on the brink of an alchemical discovery, came to drink a magic potion that turned him into a donkey. Then, after suffering a series of travails, and remaining nonetheless in the form of a donkey incapable of speaking, the young man appealed to an invisible, all-seeing goddess, Isis, for divine intervention.

When the hero promised her his undying devotion if she would only rescue him from certain death, she granted his prayer and changed him back to human form, all in the plain view of hundreds of eyewitnesses. Known to the classical world as the Transformations of that Miraculous Donkey - Aureus Asinus - the delightfully written story, alternating between series of comic blunders and even more tragic errors, took on the appearance of a personal testimonial that magic was real because it was written in the First Person. The tale, arguably one of the first sword and sorcery tall tales of the classic world, spread across the known world of the time, leading local politicians into lodging criminal complaints against the writer for doing what had been written down - committing acts of sorcery.

Variations

Different retellings of Theophilus' tale introduce variations of certain details, including:

  • Theophilus' motivation for pursuing a deal with the devil is simple jealousy.
  • The magician is specifically referred to as a Jew. This is an important variation in that it introduces a subtext of anti-semitism into the story.
  • The magician is omitted completely, Theophilus deals with the devil alone.
  • Theophilus repents the day after he makes his deal, as the bishop apologizes to him.
  • Mary appears immediately after Theophilus begins to pray.
  • Mary does not appear at all, but Theophilus' contract appears on his chest the morning after he first prays.
  • The devil provided Theophilus with great wealth in addition to his position in the church. This wealth is then distributed to the poor before Theophilus' ecstatic death.

Importance

This story played a role in establishing the importance of the intercession of the Virgin Mary, in addition to providing a basis for later tales involving the conjuration of devils.

The Virgin Mary increased in theological importance throughout the 11th century. The story was used to illustrate the power and necessity of her intercession by Peter Damian, Bernard of Clairvaux, Anthony of Padua, Bonaventure and much later on by Alphonsus Liguori.

The story of Saint Theophilus is an important example in the development of the theology of witchcraft. As seen in the tale, the summoning of devils was not originally considered to be a damning sin, this changed during the 14th century when Nicolas Eymeric codified the mandate of the Inquisition in the Directorium Inquisitorum, after which, Theophilus would have been branded a heretic for his association with the devil. In contrast the tale of Doctor Faust, which evolved during and after the 16th century and was based on the tale of Saint Theophilus ends with Faust being carried off to hell despite his pleas to the Virgin.

References

The National Library of the Netherlands has a collection of images pertaining to Saint Theophilus.

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