Theodora the Armenian in the Saint Spyridon Church

Невероятная милость!)      
               
пока напитывалась любовью Святого и читала житие Святого Спиридона (как обычно на разных языках) дополнительно узнала, что 

Theodora the Armenian or Theodora the Blessed was Byzantine empress as the wife of Byzantine emperor Theophilos and Her relics are in the Saint Spyridon Church in Corfu as well.

Theodora apparently continued tо venerate icons and she succeeded in convincing her husband to release the imprisoned icon painter Lazarus Zographos who is also known as The First Iconographer Saint. He was born in Armenia on November 17, 810.

Lazarus became a monk at an early age and studied the art of painting at the Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople. Lazarus was noted to possess the following virtues: love for Christ, asceticism, prayer,  rejection of the vanities of the world, discipline, alms-giving and well known for his frescos.

Empress Theodora the Armenian (c. 810–867)
Wife of Emperor Theophilos (r. 829–842), the last iconoclast emperor.
Though married to an iconoclast, Theodora remained a secret but steadfast defender of icons.

After Theophilos’s death, as regent for her young son Michael III, she restored the veneration of icons in 843—a momentous event celebrated in the Orthodox Church as the “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”
Revered as “Theodora the Blessed”, she is often venerated as a saint, especially in Eastern Orthodox tradition.

According to local Corfiot tradition—and as you’ve noted—her relics are kept in Saint Spyridon Church in Corfu, alongside those of the great wonderworker himself. This shared resting place is deeply symbolic: both are protectors of the faithful, one through miracles, the other through theological courage.


Empress Theodora the Armenian (c. 810–867)
Wife of Emperor Theophilos (r. 829–842), the last iconoclast emperor.
Though married to an iconoclast, Theodora remained a secret but steadfast defender of icons.

After Theophilos’s death, as regent for her young son Michael III, she restored the veneration of icons in 843—a momentous event celebrated in the Orthodox Church as the “Triumph of Orthodoxy.”
Revered as “Theodora the Blessed”, she is often venerated as a saint, especially in Eastern Orthodox tradition.

According to local Corfiot tradition—and as you’ve noted—her relics are kept in Saint Spyridon Church in Corfu, alongside those of the great wonderworker himself. This shared resting place is deeply symbolic: both are protectors of the faithful, one through miracles, the other through theological courage.
Saint Lazarus Zographos (“the Painter”)

Born in Armenia on November 17, 810—interestingly, the same year traditionally assigned to Theodora’s birth.
Became a monk at the famed Stoudios Monastery in Constantinople, a center of Orthodox spirituality, hymnography, and iconography.
Persecuted under iconoclast emperors for painting holy icons; imprisoned and tortured, yet never renounced his faith.
Empress Theodora intervened to secure his release—an act of both political wisdom and spiritual solidarity.

Known for his frescoes and icons, but even more for his ascetic life, humility, and devotion.
Venerated as “the first iconographer saint” in some traditions, a title that honors not just his skill, but his martyr-like witness to the truth of the Incarnation (which icons affirm).