Numbered for a time among the supporters of Saint Nilus of Sora, Saint Theodoretus was always in search of a more perfect hesychia. This search drove him to a region in the far north near the River Kola which was inhabited by the Lapps people. Though he was summoned for a time to Novogorod by the Archbishop Macarius, he never abandoned a desire to illumine the region with the light of the Gospel. So, after spending two years in Novogorod where he was ordained priest and received the grace to heal diseases and to cast out demons, he returned to the north where he established church and monastery dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Having learned their language, he preached to the native population in their own tongue, and the grace of the Holy Spirit shinning in him imbued his message with power. As a result, the Lapps came to him for baptism, even as many as 2,000 people in one day.