Didymus the Blind

Saint Didymus the Blind
Saint Didymus the Blind
Dean of the Theological School of Alexandria
Born	c. 313
Died	c. 398
Venerated in	Oriental Orthodox Churches
Feast	18 October
Patronage	The Blind

Didymus the Blind (alternatively spelled Dedimus or Didymous) (c. 313 – 398) was a Christian theologian in the Coptic Church of Alexandria, whose famous Catechetical School he led for about half a century. Despite his impaired vision, his memory was so powerful that he mastered dialectics and geometry, subjects whose study usually benefits appreciably from sight.

Didymus wrote many works: Commentaries on all the Psalms, the Gospel of Matthew, the Gospel of John as Against the Arians, and On the Holy Spirit, which Jerome translated into Latin. He also wrote on Isaiah, Hosea, Zechariah, Job, and many other topics. Didymus’ biblical commentaries, which supposedly addressed nearly all the books of the Bible, survive in fragments only. His Catholic Letters are of dubious authenticity. He is probably the author of a treatise on the Holy Spirit that is extant in Latin translation.

He was a loyal follower of Origen, and opposed Arian and Macedonian teachings. Such of his writings as survive show a remarkable knowledge of scripture, and have distinct value as theological literature.

Although he became blind at the age of four, before he had learned to read, he succeeded in mastering the whole gamut of the sciences then known.

Despite his blindness, Didymus excelled in scholarship because of his incredible memory. He found ways to help blind people to read, and experimented with carved wooden letters,

Braille systems used by the blind today.

Rufinus recounts that upon entering the service of the Church, Didymus became 'a teacher in the Church school', having been 'approved by Bishop Athanasius' and other learned churchmen. It used to be assumed that this meant he was placed at the head of the Catechetical School of Alexandria which had flourished under Clement and Origen. However, it has long been questioned whether this institution still existed in Didymus' time, or whether Rufinus is referring to a slightly different arrangement.

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