25-го числа

Our Holy Father Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople Tarasius came from a noble family, received an excellent education, quickly rose in government service and, while still a young man, served as secretary of the Privy Council of the Greek Emperor and reached the rank of senator when he was called to the patriarchal see on the following occasion. There were iconoclastic turmoil in the Church at that time. During the reign of several iconoclast emperors, this heresy strengthened significantly. Spiritual power turned out to be powerless in the fight against it. Patriarch Paul IV, who was then in Constantinople, who himself honored icons in the Taiya, did not, however, have enough courage to openly demand the restoration of icon veneration, and therefore voluntarily renounced the patriarchate, while pointing out to Empress Irene (the ruler of the state during the infancy of her son Constantine) Senator Tarasius as a person capable of replacing him and successfully governing the Church in this difficult time. All the clergy agreed with the election of such a successor to Paul, but Tarasius himself did not consider himself worthy of such a high rank and for a long time refused to accept it. Finally, he agreed to submit to the general desire and accepted in 784. the patriarchal throne, but with the only condition that an Ecumenical Council be convened to eliminate church discord and disorder, “for,” he said, “I see the broken Church of God, strife between East and West; mutual enmity where there should be unity of faith and love.” This proposal was accepted sympathetically and thus it was decided to convene an Ecumenical Council, which took place in Nicaea in 788. This was the 7th Ecumenical Council, at which there were 367 saints. fathers. It opened its meetings on September 24th and lasted 20 days. It was presided over by St. Tarasy. In defense of St. icons, evidence from the Holy Scriptures and tradition was cited, on the basis of which the veneration of holy icons was restored and protected by the rules drawn up. At the same time, it was ordered: to honor the holy icons and bow to them not as God, but as His and the saints’ memorial mark. The Acts of the Ecumenical Council also contain, among other things, two letters from Patriarch Tarasius to Pope Adrian; in the first of them, having mentioned the obstacles that existed for the unification of the council and which, among other things, consisted in the discovery of ambitious claims by the pope, Tarasius writes to “the most holy and blessed brother and fellow bishop of Rome”: “Finally all the bishops came to the city of Nicaea, with the legates of Rome and the eastern governors, and everyone sitting at the council was pleased to elect the head is Christ Himself; The Gospel was placed on the holy throne, which inspired all those gathered to judge the right court. We ordered to read in advance the letter of your shrine, then the letters of the Eastern Patriarchs. Christ, our God, the real rock on which we are established, did not allow His incorruptible robe, that is, His Catholic Church, founded by Him and on Him, to be dissolved further.” Thus, the iconoclastic heresy was put to an end by its condemnation at the Ecumenical Council, and agreement was reached on other objects of faith and church institutions. Saint Tarasius then devoted himself entirely to the activities of managing his flock. Having moved from a secular to a spiritual title, he began to lead an even more strict life; renounced the slightest luxury, used all his property for the benefit of those in need; set up hospitals, served the sick himself; started almshouses. He received with love everyone who came to him, listened to them with attention; interceded for them and defended the offended. Despite the nobility of his family and rank, he led a very simple life, dressed simply, not even allowing anyone to wait on him when dressing; He himself served everyone to the best of his ability, in fulfillment of the words of the Savior: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve”... (Matthew 20:28). Saint Tarasius constantly taught both in words and in written messages, and he himself served as a model of pious life for everyone. He stood firmly for the truth, not fearing to incur the malice of the great and powerful of the world; did not shy away from the truth when he had to express it to the emperor himself. He denounced Constantine (VI, 780-797), when, under the influence of passion for one of his relatives, he wanted to marry her and for the sake of this divorce his wife Maria (granddaughter of St. Philaret the Merciful) 338, but in order to justify his illegal act, he resorted to slandering his wife, accusing her of intending to poison him. The rumor about this spread among the people; no one dared to refute it. Only Patriarch Tarasius, when the emperor sent one of the dignitaries to him with an order to inform him about this family matter of his and to ask for blessings for a new marriage, rebelled indignantly against the king’s intentions and objected to him through the messenger with a bold denunciation: “I don’t know how the sovereign will demand from his subjects that they live honestly and chastely, after he sets such an example for them. The queen is innocent, I am sure of this, and I would rather die than give my blessing for a new marriage. Here is my answer; This is how all the clergy will answer. Report this to the king." Fearing to act against the approval of the universally respected patriarch, Constantine hoped to convince him with a personal explanation and win him over in his favor. But Patriarch Tarasius, who was called to him, together with Elder John, did not bow to any of his arguments and answered him with unwavering directness: “Do not rebel, sir, against the law of God! Do not fight the truth with secret cunning! It is fitting for a sovereign to act openly, freely, with a clear conscience, and not to plot in secret against the law of the Lord! You know, like everyone else, the innocence of the queen and with slander you disgrace your royal scepter. That is why I will not allow your legal marriage and will not give my blessing to an unlawful marriage. Will it be possible to respect you when you clearly violate God’s commandment? Will it be possible for you to receive Holy Communion? Tain with others? I tell you before God: although you are a king, I will not allow you to the altar for communion of the Holy Mysteries of Christ, for in St. Scripture says to the priests: Do not let My altar be trampled underfoot.” Unfortunately, the admonitions of the venerable elders did not bring them to their senses, but only irritated the emperor, and he dishonorably ordered them to be expelled from the palace, and, contrary to church laws, he satisfied his passion - he sent his wife Maria to a monastery, and he himself married his close relative Theodotia. There was one presbyter Joseph who blessed this illegal marriage. Saint Tarasius did not resort to dissolving this marriage, fearing that Constantine would not decide to re-establish iconoclasm in revenge for this. But he pulled away from the emperor; He devoted himself exclusively to the management of church affairs and patiently endured Constantine’s hostile attitude towards him. However, Constantine did not reign for long. Irina again became the ruler of the state. From that time on, Tarasius peacefully ruled his flock and died in old age, already under Emperor Nicephorus Patricius, around 806, having been patriarch for 22 years. He was bitterly mourned by the people, who honored him especially for his mercy. His body was buried in the monastery he created, dedicated to all martyrs, in the Pontic Wall. The Lord glorified him with many miraculous healings that took place at his tomb. A remarkable story, by the way, testifies that even after his death Saint Tarasius was vigilant about the observance of icon veneration and punished heretics - iconoclasts. So, when Leo the Armenian, having become emperor several years later after the death of St. Tarasius, again armed himself against the admirers of St. icons, then one day in a dream he saw St. Tarasius, who, pointing at him, ordered one warrior, Michael, to kill him, and he dealt him a fatal blow with a sword... Alarmed by this dream, Leo sent St. Tarasius to find out if the warrior Michael is hiding there... not suspecting that St. Tarasius warned him in a dream about Michael Vallos, one of the military leaders who actually killed Leo on the very day of the Nativity of Christ... The life of Patriarch Tarasius is described by Bishop Ignatius of Nicea, who was close to him; in his youth he studied poetry and was present at his last minutes. - View of St. Tarasius resembled St. Gregory the Theologian.