St Theophilus the Penitent Day
Theophilus of Adana (d. 538) was a priest of Asia Minor in the Byzantine empire. He declined a bishopric because he thought himself unworthy of the position. Enemies slandered him to the new bishop with accusations of theft and he was removed from his position of archdeacon. Outraged by the injustice he signed a pact with the Devil. In return for vengeance, wealth and the bishopric, he was to deny Christ and the Virgin Mary in a pact written in his own blood. Repenting of his rashness later, he appealed to the Virgin and undertook a penitential fast of forty days. The Virgin rescued him by fetching back the contract he had signed with the Infernal Powers. The pact was burnt in the town square and Theophilus entered into legend with the story told many times in the Middle Ages. It was an influential story – perhaps the earliest tale of a deal with the devil – and it emphasised to the medieval mind the reality of Satan and the power of the Virgin Mary