Tarasius of Constantinople

St. Tarasius of Constantinople

Our father among the saints Tarasius of Constantinople, (Greek: Ταράσιος), was the Patriarch of Constantinople from 784 to 806. He accepted the see of Constantinople on the condition that a council, the Seventh Ecumenical Council, be convened to settle the issue of veneration of icons. His feast day is February 25.

Life

Tarasius is believed to have been born about 730, in Constantinople, the son of a high ranking judge. He was of illustrious lineage, related to important families including the family of the future Patriarch Photius the Great. He received a fine education and embarked on a career in the secular administration of the empire. He was promoted rapidly at the court of the emperor Constantine VI and his mother, the Empress Irene. He attained the rank of senator and eventually became imperial secretary (asekretis) to Constantine VI and his mother, Irene.

At that time the Church was agitated by the turmoil of the iconoclast disturbances. Patriarch Paul IV, who had formerly supported Iconoclasm but later repented, resigned his office due to old age and illness. He withdrew to a monastery, where he took the schema. When the Empress Irene and her son Constantine came to him for advice concerning the patriarchate, Paul told them that his most worthy successor would be Tarasius, who at the time was still a layman. Even though he was a layman, he, like all educated Byzantines, was well versed in theology, and the election of qualified laymen as bishops was not unheard of in the history of the Church.

When approached by the emperor and empress, Tarasius refused the position for a long time, considering himself unworthy of the high office. In time, he gave in with the condition that an Ecumenical Council be convened to address the Iconoclast heresy.

Beginning as a layman, Tarasius was taken quickly through the Holy Orders, ordained first a deacon, then a priest, before consecration as bishop. On December 25, 784, Bp. Tarasius was enthroned as patriarch of Constantinople

On August 17, 786, the council was convened in the Church of the Holy Apostles to consider the issue of iconoclasm. However, the council was suddenly invaded by mutinous troops who dispersed the delegates. It wasn't until the following year, in September 787, that the council was again convened, this time in Nicea. In attendance were 367 bishops. With Patr. Tarasius presiding, the council, known also as the Second Council of Nicea, condemned Iconoclasm and formally approved the veneration of icons. Patr. Tarasius assumed a moderate policy towards the former Iconoclasts, which caused the opposition of Theodore the Studite and his partisans. However, those bishops who repented of their iconoclasm were again received by the Church.

About a decade later, in January 795, Tarasius became involved in emperor Constantine's divorce of his wife, Maria of Amnia. By the divorce, emperor Constantine slandered his spouse, the empress Maria, the granddaughter of St. Philaretos the Merciful, so that he could send Maria to a monastery and free himself to marry his own kinswoman, Theodote. The monastic community was scandalized. Patr Tarasius, however, refused to dissolve the marriage of the emperor, for which he fell into disgrace. Soon, however, Constantine was deposed by his own mother, the Empress Irene.

Patr. Tarasius led the Church for twenty-two years. He lived a strict ascetic life. Frugally, he spent his money on God-pleasing ends, feeding and giving comfort to the aged, to the impoverished, and to widows and orphans. On Holy Pascha, he set out a meal for them, that he served himself. Tarasius continued to serve loyally through the subsequent imperial regimes of Irene and Nikephoros I. His ability to work with three different monarchs contributed to his continuation in office until his death.

Patr. Tarasius reposed on February 25, 806 in Constantinople. He was buried in a monastery he built on the Bosphorus.

Hymns

Troparion (Tone 4) [1]

You appeared to your flock as a rule of faith,

An image of humility and a teacher of abstinence.

Because of your lowliness, Heaven was opened to you.

Because of your poverty, riches were granted to you.

O holy bishop, Tarasius, pray to Christ our God to save our souls!

Troparion (Tone 3) [2]

You shone forth as a light of the Spirit,

Adorned with an exemplary life and clothed in hierarchical vesture.

You stilled the turbulence of heresy

And became a pillar and foundation of the Church,

Which praises your struggles, holy Father Tarasius.

Kontakion (Tone 3) [3]

You illumined the Church with Orthodox doctrine

and taught all to venerate and honor the precious image of Christ.

You vanquished the godless doctrine of the iconoclasts.

Therefore we cry to you:

"Rejoice, wise Father Tarasius."

Succession box: Tarasius of Constantinople
Preceded by: Paul IV	Patriarch of Constantinople 784-806	Succeeded by: Nicephorus I

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Sources

• OCA: St Tarasius the Archbishop of Constantinople
• Wikipedia:Patriarch_Tarasios_of_Constantinople

External links

• Saint Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople (Prologue of Ohrid)
• Wikipedia:Theodote