How could you NOT love a matchup between a guy named Odo and another guy who is known as a Studite? Meet Odo of Cluny and Theodore the Studite (spoiler alert for those getting ready to leave a comment: autocorrect does not like "Studite." At all.)
Yesterday, in the most lopsided battle of Lent Madness 2017, Florence Nightingale routed Anselm of Canterbury 81% to 19%. She will move on to face Henry Beard Delany in the Saintly Sixteen.
And, finally, it's not everyday that ESPN covers that other famous bracket tournament that takes place in March. But recently ESPN radio in Louisville, Kentucky, interviewed passionate Lent Madness booster, the Rev. Katherine Doyle of St. Thomas Episcopal Church, about everyone's favorite online Lenten devotion. Take a listen as she appeared on the Bob Valvano show. It's a great segment which you can listen to by clicking here (the spot in question begins at 21:30 of the broadcast). Nice job!
Odo of Cluny
Odo was born circa 879 in France. Odo’s father Abbo secretly dedicated his son to Saint Martin, sending him to a priest for education and formation. But as Odo grew, he became a hale and hearty young man—much more suited, in his father’s opinion, to the life of a noble warrior. Abbo sent Odo to live at the court of one of the dukes of Aquitaine.
Odo recounts that while praying and singing one day in court, he was seized with a violent pain in his head. He suffered for three years until his father confessed his promise to dedicate his son to Saint Martin. Soon after, Odo received the tonsure—the practice of some monks to shave the crown of the head—and served at St. Martin’s Church in Tours.
After reading the Rule of Saint Benedict, Odo was horrified to realize how much his life (and the lives of his brother monks at Tours) deviated from the Rule. Monks at Tours discarded their habits in favor of the fashion of the day and often received gifts from noblemen in exchange for prayers. They wore expensive shoes and refused to walk outside for night prayers to avoid ruining their shoes. They ate lavish meals while ignoring the hungry.
Odo committed himself to living the Rule of Saint Benedict. He discarded his personal property, ate meager rations, and prayed fervently. He embraced the ascetic life and spoke out against the evils of the church of his time—ecclesiastical abuses, lack of prayer, and the oppression of the poor.
Odo entered the monastery at Baume where the Rule of Saint Benedict was strictly followed. Odo would eventually be appointed Abbot of Cluny. Odo visited Rome several times, negotiating peace between the violent power politics of warring nobles and the church. Monasteries in Italy and France summoned him to instill reform within their own walls.
Odo’s legacy is seen in the great age of monasteries, places where worship, care for the poor, and art flourished. His deep spirituality gives us insight into his zeal and commitment to reform holy orders. Odo died in 942 in Tours after assisting with worship on the Feast Day of Saint Martin of Tours.
Collect for Odo of Cluny
God of grace, you hear the promises we freely offer and see the hidden desires of every heart. We thank you for the example of your servant Odo, who zealously sought righteousness and lived out holy community in his life and work. Grant that we, in our own time and ways, would ever seek your will in our lives, to the honor of your son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Theodore the Studite
Theodore the Studite (759-826), also known as St. Theodore of Stoudios, was a Greek Orthodox monk. Born in 759, he grew up in a prominent bureaucratic family in Constantinople, receiving a private education that eventually came to be heavily focused around theology.
Theodore’s maternal uncle Platon encouraged the whole family to take monastic vows and transform the family farm into a monastery. Theodore, his father, and his sister joined Platon in 781 and sailed to Bithynia in northwest Asia Minor near the Black Sea. Following the guidance of the Greek bishop, Basil of Caesarea, they established a community that came to be known as the Sakkudion Monastery.
Shortly after Theodore was ordained a priest, Uncle Platon—the abbot of the Sakkudion—took a permanent vow of silence and handed control of the monastery to his nephew. Theodore did well running the Sakkudion Monastery, despite his persistent habit of denouncing the emperor’s divorce and remarriage. This led to years of exile, fights with and floggings from emperors, patriarchs, iconoclasts, and difficult popes. Ultimately, after lots of fasting, praying, and writing iambic verse about icons and clean living, Theodore revived the monastic community of Stoudios in Constantinople
Theodore built Stoudios into a major scholastic and artistic center. Under his leadership, Stoudios became known for its literary output. Theodore devised what amounted to a private mail system for the network of monasteries in and around Constantinople and wrote poems enshrining the community’s rule of life in an easy-to-remember form. Aside from his monastic innovations and reforms, Theodore is best known for two great works: the theological treatise On Holy Icons, a pivotal and foundational work for the use of icons in worship, and a letter he wrote instructing his followers not to own slaves—the first recorded Christian theological stand against slavery.
Collect for Theodore the Studite
Gracious God, who speaks to us in both the complexity of art and the quiet of simplicity, we thank you for your servant Theodore the Studite, who reminded your Church of the many ways in which you are present. Grant us, we pray, the eyes to see you wherever and whenever you appear, that we may see your glory in all your creation, and especially through Jesus Christ your Son, our Lord. Amen.
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268 comments on “Odo of Cluny vs. Theodore the Studite”
The interview was excellent, but I couldn't help but laugh that the Lent Madness segment was introduced with Handel's exuberance of joy that is probably the least appropriate pop-classical church music for the occasion. It's Lent, people!
As a staff member at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, Columbia, SC, I must vote for Odo, but I was moved to nearly change my mind when I read at the very end of Studite's instruction not to own slaves. Alas, however, Martin of Tours is in my blood and Odo it is.
Well, this one isn't going to be lopsided no matter who wins! Equally interesting bios.
Well, finally, I don't feel like I am comparing apples and oranges. It doesn't seem right to me to try to compare people from wildly disparate moments in time.
"Theodore the Studite (759-826), also known as St. Theodore of Stoudios, was a Greek Orthodox monk."
I have to point out that the Greek Orthodox church, as such, did not exist at this moment in time as the East/West Schism was stilla few centuries in the future. There was only the church.
For Odo of Cluny and Theodore the Studite
Tune: Ratisbon – Christ Whose Glory Fills the Skies, Hymnal ’82, 7.
(or you can use the Hymn 6, different tune, same hymn)
Who can choose between these two
Faithful monks whose serving ways
Honored Christ in choices made,
In community that shapes
Human hearts to care and give?
May our service be so wise!
Odo’s story might seem strange.
Called through anguished headache he
Honored what his father vowed,
Took it on with vigor strong.
Said no to the easy way!
Faithful reform; serve and pray!
Theodore deserves our thanks.
For his fights ‘gainst powers that were.
For his poetry sublime.
For his love for icons fine.
For his leadership so brave.
For his defense of the slave.
Love the hymns! Are they going to be published?
Yes, please, Diana and the SEC.
Carol and Michelle: Not sure the hymns are publishable except in this limited context. (Note to SEC: I humbly crave your gracious forgiveness for referring to Lent Madness as "Limited" and trust you to comprehend my tragically limited vocabulary.) But thank you for the ego enhancing compliment. I must now go and confess my egoic sins, but am still grateful for the opportunity to commit them. Am also keeping them all in a single file and will gladly send said file to anyone who asks once the Golden Halo has been awarded.
We love the hymns...used last weeks as a plug for Lent Madness last night at our Soup Suppers and teaching. Great response for Issac and Mechtild.
Sherry, that's wonderful! Thank you for telling me. I'm grinning all over my face.
Thank you Diana.
Thank you, Diana. I was going to print them out each day. Now I don't have to!
I also think they should be published. I've started looking for them day by day. Would love to see them all once we are done with the forward movement of Lent Madness toward the 2017 Golden Halo winner announcement.
What a conundrum! One nearby neighbor is the Benedictine Monastery of Christ in the Desert and the brothers are wonderful, but my next door neighbor paints icons for churches. Would like to honor them both. Tough one today!
Hard choice. I had to read each a couple of times. I like the combination of simplicity and art. Finally went with Theodore for his theology. His letter against slavery and a serious consideration of how to use art icons in worship
There's a wonderful little story about Odo and his entourage passing by some impoverished laurel berry peddlers. Odo buys their laurel berries and pays them far more than their worth. Then afterwards, there's this whole scene where the entourage realizes they don't need laurel berries and try to figure out what to do with them.
Odo! I liked the mystical part of how his father had a vision for his son, Odo, to become a priest-- that ultimately became his destiny. Most of all, I find it inspiring how he championed for the less fortunate, recognized the church's hypocrisy, and sacrificed his own personal comforts.-------------- "practice what you preach"
I had to vote for Theodore for his love of icons as our church, All Souls', is hosting an exhibition titled Icons in Transformation, the work of Ludmila Pawlowska. Her contemporary, expressionist work is inspired by traditional Russian icons!
I like Theodore- he stood up for himself and other people. Aren't you 10 now, Oliver?
I have enjoyed readying the many wonderful insights today! ("Stud. Ite." - VERY clever!) And from the depths of March in chilly, dreary Minnesota this morning, St. Cecelia's comment about contemplating Christ Pantocrator and the "dolphin-torn, that gong-tormented sea" was strongly compelling. I voted for Theodore and art, beauty and scholarship.
I voted against Odo because he didn't like nice shoes
This made me chuckle - thank you for that. 🙂
This is what swayed me to Odo:
He embraced the ascetic life and spoke out against the evils of the church of his time—ecclesiastical abuses, lack of prayer, and the oppression of the poor.
Both so worthy but did pick Odo as he was a peacemaker and reformer of monastic life
As a member of the Community of Hope which applies Benedict's Rule to our life today, I had to vote for Odo. Glad to learn about both of them.
Much as I love typing "Studite," I can't pass up the opportunity to write, "Cluniac."
I voted for Theodore for two reasons...the stand against slavery (which was enough to win it for me) and creating a mail system. He was far ahead of his time morally and organizationally.
Theodor got my vote. A poet and rebel and anti slavery to boot. Plus the asceticism of Odo didn't endear me to hm.
Today's a toughie! I love both these fascinating men. But as a fan of icons, I had to go with Theo.
Theodore's treatise on Holy Icons swayed me. That and his arguments against slavery. Eastern Orthodox iconography is one of the most enduring expressions of spirituality and one that bridges East and West.
Hard choice! Eventually I chose Theodore mostly because of his stand against slavery.
Odo today for the bald win. He made me think of my father who I could always locate by the growing bald spot on the back of his head & Daddy followed God's rules too.
We need more of a warrior's approach to faith and study in the church. More zeal, more passion, but a passion for peace and prayer. Odo wins, hands down.
I voted for Odo because it had to make his life difficult to point out the errors and materialistic ways of fellow Monks! That's not an audience that I think would be welcoming constructive criticism!
Very much miss Bible study, Ruth, which you always led so capably. Illness keeps me away from what could have been a lively debate, but voted p.c. For Theo.
Odo and Abbo, gotta go with the good names. Hard to choose between these two though.
Odo's rejection of wealth and emphasis on care for the poor and prayer set an example much needed today.
I'm voting for If I because he's a reminder that in every age the church needs reformers.
I mean Odo. =:&*/; autocorrect!
In the 9th century, Constantinople and Rome were clearly distinct power centers, both temporally and ecclesiastically. Diarmaid MacCulloch points out that the French church was looking to Rome at this time, while "Byzantium looked eastwards: the ninth-century renewal of the city's liturgical tradition drew inspiration from a source beyond itself, in Jerusalem" (453). He points to the year 843 as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" in the Eastern Church. In fact, the Council of Chalcedon, after which "the church" split irrevocably, took place much earlier, in the year 451 CE. I am afraid that "the church" as a uniform, doctrinally harmonious body exists only in our wishes for Christendom. Possibly not even the angels aspire to such uniformity.
LOL!!!
I have so many dear Christian friends who suffer from migraines, I voted for Odo with them "in mind."