St. Theodore was born in the year 1774 in the city of Neochorion of Byzantium. He had good Christian parents, who were careful in the Christian upbringing of their children, demonstrated by the fact that a brother of St. Theodore, Gregory, later became bishop Adrianoupolis.From a young age Theodoros wanted to become a painter, and he became a student of a renowned painter who worked in the palace of the sultan in Constantinople. But there he faced unknown pressures, and his spiritual strength at his age was tried, and he ended up converting to Islam. After a few years passed, however, he realized the heavy sin which he fell to. At that time there was a serious epidemic in the city of Constantiniple, and this made him consider death, God, the soul, the other life. Thus the lost sheep sought the road to return. He escaped from the palace with foreign clothing and so they wouldn’t recognize him, he wore a jug on his shoulder. He left from the palace and went to sea, where by the will of God, he found a boat heading to the island of Chios, which became for him a place of spiritual regeneration and