church of the Holy Apostles, the poor man one night saw S. Theodosia
in a dream, and heard her command to repair with tapers and incense to
the church dedicated to her honour. Next morning the deaf-mute made his
friends understand what had occurred during his sleep, and with their
help found his way to the designated shrine. There he was anointed with
the holy oil of the lamp before the saint's eikon, and bowed long in
humble adoration at her feet. Nothing remarkable happened at the time.
But on his homeward way the devout man felt a strange pain in his ear,
and upon putting his hand to the sore place, what seemed a winged insect
flew out and vanished from view. Wondering what this might mean, he
entered the house in which he served, and set himself to prepare the
oven in which the bread for the family was to be baked that day. But all
his efforts to kindle the fire were in vain; the wood only smoked. This
went on so long that, like most persons under the same circumstances,
the much-tried man lost his temper and gave way to the impulse to use
bad language. Whereupon sonorous imprecations on the obstinate fuel
shook the air. The bystanders could not believe their ears. They thought
the sounds proceeded from some mysterious voice in the oven. But the
deaf-mute protested that he heard his friends talking, and assured them
that the words they heard were his own; S. Theodosia had opened his ears
and loosed his tongue. The news of the marvel spread far and wide and
reached even the court. Andronicus II. sent for the young man,
interrogated him, and was so deeply impressed by the recital of what had
happened that he determined to proceed to the church of S. Theodosia in
state, and went thither with the patriarch and the senate, humbly on
foot, and spent the whole night before the wonder-working shrine in
prayer and thanksgiving.

[Illustration: PLATE XLIV.
(1) S. THEODOSIA. INTERIOR, LOOKING NORTH-EAST.
(2) S. THEODOSIA. THE EASTERN DOME ARCH.
_To face page 168._]

The last scene witnessed in this church as a Christian sanctuary was
pathetic in the extreme. It was the vigil of the day sacred to the
memory of the saint, May 29, 1453. The siege of the city by the Turks
had reached its crisis. The morning light would see the Queen of Cities
saved or lost. All hearts were torn with anxiety, and the religious
fervour of the population rose to the highest pitch. Already, in the
course of the previous day, a great process