Tarasios of Constantinople

Saint

Tarasios of Constantinople
Saint; Tarasios of Constantinople
Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople
Installed	25 December 784
Term ended	25 February 806
Predecessor	Paul IV
Successor	Nikephoros I
Personal details
Denomination	Chalcedonian Christianity

Saint

Tarasios of Constantinople
Saint; Tarasios of Constantinople
	Icon of Saint Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople (Johann Conrad Dorner, 1848–1852)
Hierarch; Bishop and Confessor
Born	c. 730; Constantinople; (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey)
Died	25 February 806; Constantinople; (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey)
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church; Catholic Church
Canonized	Pre-Congregation
Feast	February 18th (Catholic Church) (General Roman Calendar); February 25th (Eastern Orthodox Churches)
Attributes	Vested as a bishop with omophorion often holding a Gospel book with his right hand raised in blessing

Tarasios of Constantinople (also Saint Tarasios and Saint Tarasius; Greek: Ταράσιος; c. 730 – 25 February 806) was the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 25 December 784 until his death on 25 February 806.

Background

Tarasios was born and raised in the city of Constantinople. A son of a high-ranking judge, Tarasios was related to important families, including that of the later Patriarch Photios the Great. He had an elder brother, Sisinnios, who was captured during the invasion of Calabria in 788/9.^[2]

Tarasios had embarked on a career in the secular administration and had attained the rank of senator, eventually becoming imperial secretary (asekretis) to the Emperor Constantine VI and his mother, the Empress Irene.^[3] When Patriarch Paul IV of Constantinople retired to a monastery, he recommended the lay administrator Tarasios as his successor.^[4]

Since Tarasios exhibited both Iconodule sympathies and the willingness to follow imperial commands when they were not contrary to the faith, he was selected as Patriarch of Constantinople by the Empress Irene in 784, even though he was a layman at the time. Nevertheless, like all educated Byzantines, he was well versed in theology, and the election of qualified laymen as bishops was not unheard of in the history of the Church.^[3]

He reluctantly accepted, on condition that church unity would be restored with Rome and the oriental Patriarchs,^[3] and a council be called to address the iconoclast controversy.^[4] To make him eligible for the office of patriarch, Tarasios was duly ordained to the deaconate and then the priesthood, prior to his consecration as bishop.^[5]

Seventh Ecumenical Council

Before accepting the dignity of Patriarch, Tarasios had demanded and obtained the promise that the veneration of icons would be restored in the church. As a part of his policy of improving relations with Rome, he persuaded Empress Irene to write to Pope Hadrian I, inviting him to send delegates to Constantinople for a new council, to repudiate heresy. The Pope agreed to send delegates, although he disapproved of the appointment of a layman to the patriarchate. The council convened in the Church of the Holy Apostles on 17 August 786. Mutinous troops burst into the church and dispersed the delegates. The shaken papal legates at once took ship for Rome. The mutinous troops were removed from the city, and the legates reassembled at Nicaea in September 787. The Patriarch served as acting chairman (Christ was considered the true chairman). The council, known as the Second Council of Nicaea, condemned Iconoclasm and formally approved the veneration of icons. The patriarch assumed a moderate policy towards former Iconoclasts, which incurred the opposition of Theodore the Studite and his partisans.^[4]

Divorce of Constantine VI

About a decade later, Tarasios became involved in a new controversy. In January 795, Emperor Constantine VI divorced his wife, Maria of Amnia, and Tarasios reluctantly condoned the divorce. The monks were scandalised by the patriarch's consent. The leaders of the protest, Abbot Plato of Sakkoudion and his nephew Theodore the Studite, were exiled, but the uproar continued. Much of the anger was directed at Tarasios for allowing the subsequent marriage of the emperor to Theodote to take place, although he had refused to officiate. Under severe pressure from Theodore, Tarasios excommunicated the priest who had conducted Constantine's second marriage.

End of Patriarchate

Tarasios continued to loyally serve the subsequent imperial regimes of Irene and Nikephoros I. The patriarch's reputation suffered from criticism of his alleged tolerance of simony. On the other hand, his pliability proved most welcome to three very different monarchs and accounts for Tarasios' continuation in office until his death. The later selections of the laymen Nikephoros and Photios as patriarchs may have been in part inspired by the example set by Tarasios.

Sainthood

Though some later scholars have been critical of what they perceive as Tarasios' weakness before imperial power, he continues to be revered in the Eastern Orthodox Churches for his defence of the use of icons, and his struggle for the peace and unity of the Church. His feast day is celebrated on February 25 by the Eastern Orthodox and Byzantine Rite Eastern Catholic Churches (This date on the Julian Calendar at present corresponds to March 10 in common years and March 9 in leap years on the Gregorian Calendar) and on February 18 by Latin Church Catholics.

References

^ Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)
^ Stephanos Efthymiadis (ed.), The Life of the Patriarch Tarasios by Ignatios Deacon (BHG1698): Introduction, Edition, Translation and Commentary (Routledge, 2016 [1998]), p. 10.
^ ^a ^b ^c "St. Tarasius". Catholic Encyclopedia.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Saint Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople", OCA
^ By canon law both of East and West, each of these orders must be conferred at intervals of days, during which one order is exercised before a higher one is received.

Bibliography

The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, third edition
Byzantium: the Early Centuries by John Julius Norwich, 1988.

External links

St Tarasius the Archbishop of Constantinople Orthodox icon and synaxarion

Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity
Preceded by Paul IV	Patriarch of Constantinople 784–806	Succeeded by Nikephoros I

[1] Martyrologium Romanum (Libreria Editrice Vaticana 2001 ISBN 88-209-7210-7)

[2] Stephanos Efthymiadis (ed.), The Life of the Patriarch Tarasios by Ignatios Deacon (BHG1698): Introduction, Edition, Translation and Commentary (Routledge, 2016 [1998]), p. 10.

[Kirsch-3] "St. Tarasius". Catholic Encyclopedia.

[oca-4] "Saint Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople", OCA

[5] By canon law both of East and West, each of these orders must be conferred at intervals of days, during which one order is exercised before a higher one is received.

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[2]

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v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
^† in exile at Nicaea Christianity portal

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