Commemorated September 19 (New Calendar) October 2 (Old Calendar)
Also March 5, finding of the relics

Saint Theodore, called the Black, was son of Rostislav Mstislavovich, prince of Smolensk, in the ninth degree from Saint Vladimir. His brothers Gleb and Michael left him only Mozhaisk. He did not anger. He married the daughter of Prince Basil of Rostov and received Yaroslavl. After his brother Michael he inherited Smolensk. He honored priests and monks and gave to the poor. He went to the Horde for confirmation of his rank. The khan’s wife wanted him for her daughter. He said he had a wife in Yaroslavl. When he came home that wife was dead; the boyars and his mother-in-law would not let him in. He returned to the Horde. The khan’s daughter was baptized Anna and he married her. David and Constantine were born there. After Michael his first son died, the khan sent him back to Yaroslavl with honor. He grew old in the city. Sick, he asked to be carried to the monastery, took the monastic habit, then the schema, asked and gave forgiveness, signed himself with the Cross, and gave up his spirit. He was buried in the church of the Transfiguration.

What the reading keeps

The memory records the life, the two journeys to the Horde, the burial, and the relics. It does not preserve spoken words of Saint Theodore.

It keeps one speech from those who shut the gate: “It is not our custom to receive as prince a man coming from a foreign land; it is enough for us to have Theodore’s heir, Michael.”

He told the khan’s wife he already had a wife. He told his second wife and his children to remain in love and peace. The reading gives those as report, not as his own sentences.

The relics still lie, and the reading says they give many wonders. The Church later found the three princes in one grave at Yaroslavl, on March 5.

Who stood with him

His father Rostislav. His brothers Gleb and Michael. His first wife, daughter of Basil of Rostov, and their son Michael. Princess Ksenia, the mother-in-law who kept the gate. Anna, baptized from the Horde. David and Constantine, born in the Horde. The khan and the khan’s wife. The igumen who gave him the habit. The reading names no Latin feast.

He would not take a second wife while the first still lived, and he would not keep the world’s crown when he knew he was dying.

We ask his prayers when a man is locked out of his own house, and when rank is offered on terms he cannot keep.

Pray for us

Troparion, Tone 4 From your youth you clung to Christ’s love and you eagerly kept his laws. You were enriched with miraculous gifts and now pour forth healings, Theodore, David and Constantine. Pray to Christ our God to save those who honor you.

Kontakion, Tone 8 While in the flesh you were radiant lamps living like the angels. By fasting, vigils and faith you grew like the trees in paradise. You blossomed in prayer through the grace you received. You have become mighty physicians, healing infirmity of souls. O glorious wonderworkers Theodore, David, and Constantine, pray to Christ our God for the forgiveness of those who venerate your memory.

Saint Theodore, pray for us.

Sources

St. Demetrius of Rostov, Lives of the Saints, September 19. https://azbyka.ru/otechnik/Dmitrij_Rostovskij/zhitija-svjatykh/803

Orthodox Church in America, Saint Theodore, Prince of Smolensk and Yaroslav, and his sons Saints David and Constantine. https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/09/19/102665-saint-theodore-prince-of-smolensk-and-yaroslav-and-his-sons-sain

Orthodox Church in America, Finding of the relics, March 5. https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2026/03/05/100660-finding-of-the-relics-of-saint-theodore-prince-of-smolensk-and-y

Orthodox Encyclopedia, Theodore Rostislavich, David and Constantine (see related articles). https://pravenc.ru/text/2563762.html

Orthodox Encyclopedia, calendar, 2 October (19 September). https://www.pravenc.ru/calendar/2024/10/02.html

Also in the Latin books

He is not kept as a general feast in the Roman Martyrology. Some Eastern Catholic calendars keep September 19.

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Updated 9/19/2026