Nun Theodora, 66, fell asleep in the Lord unexpectedly here on Friday, February 22, 2013.
Born Mary Ellen Meyers, she entered monastic life in 1986 at the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration, Ellwood City, PA, under the spiritual guidance of the late Very Reverend Mother Abbess Benedicta. She came to monastic life after receiving a PhD in French from Columbia University and teaching at The Nightingale-Bramford School, New York, NY.
She was tonsured to the Little Schema, receiving the name of Theodora, on the Feast of the Protection of the Mother of God, October 1, 1990, at the hand of Archimandrite Roman [Braga] and under the mantia of Mother Abbess Christophora. At Transfiguration Monastery, she filled the obediences of prosphora baker, librarian and translator of liturgical services. She also cared for the cemetery gardens and embroidered icons, monastic paramons and burial shrouds.
Mother had a particular love for Old Testament Scripture and a special dedication to intercessory prayer. Due to physical and medical limitations, Mother Theodora continued her life of prayer, living independently in upstate New York since 2006.
She is survived by a brother, Roy (Deborah) Meyers, and two nieces.
Funeral services were celebrated at Holy Dormition Monastery, Rives Junction, MI, on February 26. According to her wishes, she was buried in the monastery cemetery, near the grave of Mother Benedicta. Nuns from New Skete Monastery vested her body in the monastic habit before she was transported to Michigan, where the nuns from Holy Dormition and Holy Transfiguration Monasteries chanted her burial service.
A Forty Day Memorial Service will be celebrated at Transfiguration Monastery on Tuesday, April 2 at 1:00 p.m.
May Mother Theodora’s memory be eternal!
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