The story begins in the tenth century when Theodora of Vasta, a young woman, disguised herself as a male soldier to fight against bandits raiding her village. As she laid dying from injuries sustained in battle, she pleaded with God to "let her body become a church, her hair trees, and her blood a river". Her story is sometimes confused with that of Theodora of Alexandria, a pious woman who lived during the same period and joined a men's monastery as "Theodoros". In both instances, the young women passed as men, died martyrs, and shared a common plea with God.
As we traveled the windy road back home and in the months that followed, I reflected on our visit. Was Saint Theodora's the work of divine intervention or nature's playful way of defying our understanding of botany? Ultimately, the church's beauty is not in the "how" but rather the "why". For hundreds of years, a little church has inexplicably carried the weight of 17 trees. A beautiful reminder that the world as we know it exists against all odds. That when what lies ahead seems insurmountable, we must believe in the possible.