Память преподобного отца нашего Трифона, патриарха Константинопольского

The Byzantine Emperor Romanus 2647, father-in-law of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus 2648, having a younger son named Theophylact, whom he promised to ordain as soon as he was born, wanted to make him Patriarch of Constantinople on the occasion of the death of the then Patriarch Stephen 2649. But since Theophylact was still then a young youth, only sixteen years old, and according to church rules could not accept such a rank, the monk Tryphon 2650 was temporarily elected as locum tenens and ruler of the patriarchal throne, who was supposed to rule the patriarchal throne only until the king’s son, Theophylact, reached the age that gave him the right to replace the patriarchal throne. Quickly ascending through the hierarchical ranks, the monk Tryphon was consecrated as a bishop and accepted patriarchal rule, being a man truly worthy of such a rank, since he led an immaculate life. Having ruled the patriarchate for not much more than three years, under the following circumstances he was removed from this administration. When Theophylact was only twenty years old, Emperor Romanus began to push for Tryphon to cede the patriarchal throne to his son. But Blessed Tryphon did not consider it possible to concede to a young and inexperienced youth such a high rank, which could only be awarded to a man who was most perfect both in years and in mind, who knew the Divine Scripture well and was generally capable of properly managing the helm of the Church. Then Emperor Romanus became very sad, not knowing what to do, since he did not have a single accusation against Tryphon that could have led to his removal from the patriarchal throne, especially since the Monk Tryphon was a man of holy, impeccable life. Under such circumstances, the emperor’s friend, the Caesarea bishop Theophan, a treacherous man, said to the emperor: “Tsar, entrust this matter to me, and I will arrange it perfectly according to your royal desire.” The king was very pleased with Theophanes's offer and began to ask him to quickly finish the work he had taken on. Having gone to Saint Tryphon, Theophanes entered into a conversation with him, hypocritically pretending to be a man devoted to him. He told him the following: “Lord, the emperor is plotting great intrigues against you: he and his like-minded people are looking for a reason and pretext to depose you from the patriarchal throne. However, despite all their troubles, they will hardly achieve anything, since they bring charges against you of which you are innocent. So, they say that you are supposedly an illiterate person and cannot write at all; and therefore they consider you unworthy of the patriarchate. In view of this, take care to shame them in advance and stop their mouths so that they remain silent. If you want to listen to me, then do so. In the presence of the entire council, write your name and patriarchal title on blank paper and send what you wrote to the emperor, so that your slanderers, who say that you do not know how to write, will be put to shame. Blessed Tryphon, being kind, did not understand Feofanov’s treachery and believed that his advice was good, which is why he carried it out. When the meetings of the council began, the patriarch addressed everyone with the following speech: “The servants of the altar of God are in vain seeking accusations against me, those who want to overthrow me from the throne. I trust in my God that they will not find anything against me for which I could be deprived of the throne entrusted to me by God, even if they strive hard to achieve this. By the way, they made a false accusation against me that I was illiterate and could not write at all. Here I am writing these lines in the presence of all of you, so that my slanderers will be ashamed and stop lying about me. Having said this, blessed Tryphon took a blank paper and, in front of everyone, wrote the following on it: – Tryphon, by the grace of God, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome, Ecumenical Patriarch. The resulting paper was then handed over to the emperor. The emperor, on the advice of the aforementioned Theophan, bishop of Caesarea, ordered the following words to be written on it with the other hand: “I am giving up the patriarchal place not for any other reason, but solely because I consider myself unworthy of this rank. Having attributed these words, the emperor ordered this paper to be read in the presence of princes, boyars and all officials. Then, with the help of his like-minded people, he forcibly removed His Holiness Patriarch Tryphon from the patriarchal palace and ordered his son Theophylact to be appointed to the patriarchal throne. As a result, great unrest and disorder began in the Church, because many of the ministers of the Church continued to consider Tryphon, and not Theophylact, to be the patriarch. Meanwhile, blessed Tryphon, having patiently endured such a reproach against himself, retired to the monastery where he had remained before his appointment to the patriarchal throne, and, after living here for two years and five months, he reposed in the Lord 2651. His venerable body was transferred to the Great Throne Church, where it was laid at the tomb of the patriarchs. After his death, the unrest and disorder in the church ceased, for after the repose of Saint Tryphon, everyone agreed with the election of Theophylact to the patriarchate and joined in communion with him 2652. The memory of Saint Tryphon was honored, glorifying and thanking God. Emperor Romanus (Lakapen) ruled Byzantium from 917 to 944. Constantine (7th) Porphyrogenitus reigned from 912 to 959. Saint Stephen II was Patriarch of Constantinople from 925 to 928. Saint Tryphon ruled the Patriarchate of Constantinople from 928 to 931. The death of Saint Tryphon followed in 933. Patriarch Theophylact ruled the Church of Constantinople from 933 to 956. You might be interested in: