October 784-806 A.D. Saint Tarasius—Constantinople’s 79th; Iconodulolater; 7th Council of 787; Passive Before Emperors; Seeks Reconciliation with Rome (Again, On-Again & Off-Again)
October 784-806 A.D.
Saint
Tarasius—Constantinople’s 79th;
Iconodulolater; 7th
Council of 787; Passive Before
Emperors; Seeks Reconciliation with Rome
(Again, On-Again & Off-Again)
Patriarch Tarasios of
Constantinople
Contents
Background
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 Nicaeain September 787. The Patriarch served as acting chairman (Christ was considered the true chairman). The council, known as the Second Council of Nicaea, condemnedIconoclasm and formally approved the veneration of icons. The patriarch assumed a moderate policy towards former Iconoclasts, which incurred the opposition ofTheodore the Studite and his partisans.
Divorce of Constantine VI
End of Patriarchate
Sainthood
References
Bibliography
External links
Patriarch Tarasios of
Constantinople
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Saint Tarasios of Constantinople
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Hierarch; Bishop and Confessor
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Born
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Died
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Honored in
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February 18th (Catholic Church) (Roman Rite)[1]
February 25th (Eastern Orthodox Churches and Traditional Roman Catholics) |
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Vested as a bishop with omophorion often holding a Gospel book with his right hand
raised in blessing
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Saint
Tarasios (or Saint Tarasius) (Greek: Άγιος Ταράσιος)
(c. 730 – 25 February 806) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from 25 December 784 until his death on 25 February
806.
Contents
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.
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. Originally he embraced Iconoclasm, but later repented, resigned his post, and retired to a monastery, taking the Great Schema (monastic habit).
Since he 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.[2]
He reluctantly accepted, on
condition that church unity would be restored with Rome and the oriental Patriarchs.[3] 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.[4]
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 Nicaeain September 787. The Patriarch served as acting chairman (Christ was considered the true chairman). The council, known as the Second Council of Nicaea, condemnedIconoclasm and formally approved the veneration of icons. The patriarch assumed a moderate policy towards former Iconoclasts, which incurred the opposition ofTheodore the Studite and his partisans.
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 laymenNikephoros 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 25th by the Eastern Orthodox Churches and by Traditional Roman Catholics.
(This date on the Julian Calendar at present corresponds to March 10th on the Gregorian
Calendar).
References
4.
Jump up^ 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 the Christian Church, third edition
·
Byzantium:
the Early Centuries by
John Julius Norwich, 1988.
External links
Patriarch
of Constantinople
784–806 |
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