View source for Theophanes the Confessor

[[Image:theophanesnicea.jpg|right|thumb|150px|St. Theophanes the Confessor]]
Our father among the saints '''Theophanes the Confessor''' (also called '''Theophanes the Branded''') was Bishop of [[Nicea]].  He was the younger brother of the St. [[Theodore the Branded]] ([[December 27]]), and is also known for being a hymnographer. His [[feast day]] is celebrated on [[October 11]].

==Life==
The brothers received an excellent education and were particularly involved in philosophy. Striving towards the knowledge of God, they settled in the [[Lavra]] of St. Sava. Here St. Theophanes was [[tonsure]]d, and later became a [[hieromonk]]. 

The holy brothers were famed as advocates of [[icon]] veneration. They boldly fulfilled the mission entrusted them by the [[Patriarch of Jerusalem]] and went to Constantinople to denounce the [[iconoclast]] emperor [[Leo V the Armenian|Leo the Armenian]] (813-820). Afterwards, they also denounced the iconoclast emperors Michael Balbos (820-829) and [[Theophilus the Iconoclast|Theophilus]] (829-842). 

The saints had to endure imprisonment, hunger, even torture. The emperor Theophilus gave orders to inscribe a phrase insulting to the glorious [[confessor]]s upon their faces with red-hot needles. Therefore, they are called "Branded." "Write whatever you wish, but at the [[Last Judgment]] you shall read your own writing," said the agonized brothers to the emperor. They sent Theodore to prison, where also he died (+ 833), but Theophanes was sent into exile. With the restoration of icon veneration, St. Theophanes was returned from exile and consecrated Bishop of Nicea. The saint wrote about 150 [[canon (hymn)|canons]], among which is a beautiful canon in defense of holy icons. He died peacefully around the year 850.

==Source==
*[http://ocafs.oca.org/FeastSaintsViewer.asp?FSID=102937 St Theophanes the Confessor and Hymnographer, Bishop of Nicea] ([[OCA]])

==External links==
*[http://www.goarch.org/chapel/saints_view?contentid=237 Theophanes the Confessor, Bishop of Nicaea] ([[GOARCH]])
*[http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/my.html?month=October&day=11 The Venerable Theophanes the Branded] (''[[Prologue of Ohrid]]'')

[[Category:Bishops]]
[[Category:Bishops of Nicea]]
[[Category:9th-century bishops]]
[[Category:Hymnographers]]
[[Category:Saints]]
[[Category:Byzantine Saints]]
[[Category:9th-century saints]]

[[pt:Teófanes e Teodoro]]
[[ro:Teofan Mărturisitorul]]