Johann Conrad Dorner (1809–1867). Patriarch Tarasios (Ταράσιος) of Constantinople, circa 1848 - Tarasios of Constantinople - Johann Conrad Dorner
Saint Taraise
Patriarche de
Constantinople (+ 806)
Évêque et confesseur. Haut-fonctionnaire sous les empereurs iconoclastes (briseurs d'images), saint Taraise fut choisi par l'impératrice Irène, car elle voulait mettre cet homme de valeur à la tête de l'Église pour qu'il obtienne le rétablissement du culte des saintes icônes. Le laïc Taraise reçoit alors les ordres sacrés et devient patriarche de Constantinople en 784. Trois ans plus tard, le second concile de Nicée, qu'il préside, rétablit en effet ce culte. Après cette victoire, saint Taraise pratique une politique de réconciliation pour ramener la paix dans l'Église, ce qui le fit accuser de laxisme par beaucoup d'évêques.
À Constantinople, en 806, saint Taraise, évêque, d'un savoir et d'une piété
remarquables, qui ouvrit le second Concile de Nicée, où les Pères rétablirent
le culte des saintes images.
Martyrologe romain
SOURCE : https://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/702/Saint-Taraise.html
Saint Taraise, évêque
Haut fonctionnaire de Constantinople sous les empereurs iconoclastes, il fut placé en 784 par l’impératrice Irène sur le siège patriarcal de la capitale. Trois ans plus tard, il rétablit solennellement le culte des images lors du second concile de Nicée, et travaille à ramener la paix dans l’ Église. Il meurt en 806.
Patriarche de Constantinople
(750-806)
Saint Taraise, né à Constantinople au milieu du VIIIe siècle, fut un homme
suscité par la Providence pour la défense de la foi.
Bien jeune encore, ses mérites l'élevèrent à la dignité de consul et de
secrétaire de l'empereur. C'est de là que, tout laïque qu'il était, comme un
nouvel Ambroise, il dut monter sur le trône patriarcal de Constantinople; mais,
en homme de caractère, il posa ses conditions, dont la première tendait à
l'écrasement de l'hérésie des iconoclastes, si fameuse par sa haine contre le culte
des saintes Images.
Quelques hommes de science et de vertu, dont le caractère était plus fougueux
que le sien, lui firent des reproches de la douceur et de l'esprit de
conciliation qu'il montra en plusieurs occasions difficiles; mais jamais sa
modération ne le fit transiger avec son devoir, et il sut plus d'une fois se
montrer inflexible quand la gloire de Dieu et l'intérêt des âmes le
demandaient.
Nous trouvons dans ces différentes manières d'agir des Saints une importante
leçon: la prudence des uns, la fougue des autres, ont souvent été justifiées
selon les circonstances; deux conduites opposées, ayant également pour fin la
gloire de Dieu, peuvent être inspirées semblablement par la grâce.
Outre son zèle pour la foi, Taraise, au milieu du faste oriental, montra une
pauvreté tout évangélique; il fut admirable par la simplicité de sa vie, la
frugalité de sa table, la brièveté de son sommeil, sa bonté paternelle envers
les pauvres de Jésus-Christ.
Parmi les traits de sa charité, on cite son dévouement à protéger la vie d'un
homme injustement accusé, qui s'était réfugié dans l'asile inviolable de
l'Église, et dont il réussit à démontrer l'innocence.
L'un des points caractéristiques de sa vie, c'est son amour pour la Très Sainte
Vierge Marie. Il nous reste de lui, sur les mystères de la Mère de Dieu, des
pages aussi nourries de doctrine qu'enflammées d'éloquence: "De quelles
louanges Vous comblerons-nous, s'écrie-t-il, ô Vierge immaculée, Vierge sans
tache, ornement des femmes et splendeur des vierges!" Rien de plus beau
peut-être n'a été dit sur la Sainte Vierge, que cette page admirable où il La
salue vingt fois en rappelant tous Ses titres glorieux.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame,
1950.
*Les
années bissextiles, on fête ce Saint le 26 février
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_taraise.html
.jpg)
Saint
Taraise, patriarche de Constantinople, d'après Lebrun, par idem [Mlle Louise Bouteiller (1783–1828)], Bibliographie
de la France, 25 novembre 1826, no. 914. A Paris, chez Valant fils, au bureau
central de la lithographie, du commerce et des beaux-arts, rue des Marais-Saint-Germain,
n. 4, et chez les principaux marchands d'estampes de la France et des pays
étrangers."
Taraise de Constantinople
Évêque, Saint
+ 806
Le grand et admirable
Taraise, qui était l'humilité et la modestie môme, naquit à Constantinople, de
parents fort nobles. Son père s'appelait Georges, et sa mère Eucratie, tous
deux personnes très-notables et de fort bonne vie, du rang des patrices.
Notre Taraise ne dérogea
point à la vertu de ses ancêtres, et sous la bonne conduite de sa mère, il
arriva à un tel degré de perfection, que lorsqu'il eut atteint un âge capable
d'entrer dans la connaissance des affaires de ce monde, il fut fait consul et
premier secrétaire de l'empereur. Il donna dès lors assez à conjecturer quelle
devait être un jour sa sainteté : car bien qu'il fût au milieu des honneurs
d'une cour impériale, il faisait toutefois éclater en soi une insigne modestie,
se montrant autant éloigné de l'ambition et de la vanité mondaine, qu'il était
respecté et honoré do tout le monde. Et certes, on ne fut pas trompé; car son
humilité, sa doctrine et sa piété le tirèrent de la cour d'un empereur
terrestre, pour le faire entrer en celle de l'Empereur céleste : lui faisant
prendre le gouvernement de l'église de Constantinople en la place du patriarche
Paul.NL'an de Notre-Seigneur 784, lorsque l'hérésie des Iconoclastes était en
grande vogue (ils en voulaient aux images de Notre-Seigneur, de la vierge Marie
et des saints), Paul, patriarche, en apparence iconoclaste, mais dans
l'intérieur bon catholique, se voyant seul pour défendre l'Église catholique
contre les hérétiques (parce que presque tous les pasteurs de l'Église étaient
décédés) et ne pouvant pas empêcher la violence de ces hérétiques, se résolut
de quitter son évêché, et de se retirer en un monastère pour y servir Dieu plus
en repos. Cela étant venu à la connaissance de l'empereur Constantin et de
l'impératrice Irène, ils se transportèrent en ce monastère, fâchés de ce qu'il
avait laissé son troupeau, pour lui en demander la cause. Ce bon personnage,
après les avoir adoucis, leur dit : que le sujet qui l'avait obligé à se retirer,
était de voir l'Église presque toute renversée et infectée de l'hérésie des
Iconoclastes, et de n'avoir lui-même pu éviter leurs surprises, y ayant connivé
et de parole et d'écrit. Si bien que, désespérant d'y pouvoir apporter remède,
il s'était retiré là pour faire pénitence de sa connivence, et pour servir Dieu
plus commodément, ne voulant point être pasteur d'un troupeau hérétique. Il
leur dit de plus, que s'ils désiraient défendre l'Église (à quoi leur sceptre
les obligeait) et lui procurer et restituer sa première liberté, il fallait
qu'ils ordonnassent pour pasteur de l'Église de Constantinople, Taraise, leur
premier secrétaire, qui était accompli en toutes perfections; et comme c'était
un docte personnage, qu'il pourrait aisément gouverner l'Église après lui.
Ainsi ce bon vieillard,
qui était estimé de tous, et sans contredit un très-sage personnage, échappa
prudemment des filets des hérétiques, et détestant leur communion abominable,
fit profession de la foi et de la religion catholique; et peu de temps après,
finit heureusement ses jours. Cette confession de foi, et cette remarquable
conversion fut cause que l'empereur donna permission de disputer contre les
hérétiques, ayant été jusques alors refusée par les magistrats, qui
étaient aussi infectés de l'hérésie des Iconoclastes.
Cependant l'empereur,
voyant la sainte résolution de ce sage patriarche, et l'Église dépourvue de
pasteur, jugea qu'il était nécessaire de l'en pourvoir d'un : de sorte qu'il
envoya quérir Taraise, voulant en cela déférer à l'avis que Paul lui en avait
donné. Il lui déclara que sa volonté était qu'il entreprît la défense de
l'Église catholique, et sa conduite. Notre saint Taraise lui répondit fort
modestement, qu'il était véritablement nécessaire de pourvoir aux affaires de l'Église
si affligée par les hérésies; que pour lui il emploierait très-volontiers tous
ses travaux, son industrie, et sa vie même; mais qu'il désirait auparavant que
sa majesté et tout le peuple s'obligeassent d'observer tout ce qui avait été
ordonné par les six conciles œcuméniques, et de faire tenir un concile général,
par lequel l'hérésie fût condamnée, et l'église de Constantinople délivrée de
l'anathème qu'elle, avait encouru. Cela lui ayant été promis, il fut sacré et
ordonné archevêque de Constantinople, l'an de Notre-Seigneur 784, le 25 de
décembre, du temps du pape Adrien.
Quoique cette élection
fût faite par les hommes, toutefois les signes et les marques d'apostolat qui
furent en lui d'une manière éminente, montrèrent bien qu'elle ne venait pas des
hommes, mais de Dieu : ainsi que l'on peut remarquer en la vie vraiment
d'apôtre qu'il menait, tant en ce qui était de son corps que de son âme, comme
aussi en la réformation de son clergé, en sa charité et en sa miséricorde
envers les pauvres, et eu plusieurs autres actions et œuvres de piété qui
regardaient l'office d'un prélat. Se voyant donc archevêque, il s'adonna
d'autant plus à la pratique de toutes sortes de vertus, que sa charge demandait
une grande perfection. Mais entre les vertus qui étaient en lui, la miséricorde
éclatait sur toutes; car il nourrissait tous les jours ordinairement à sa table
un grand nombre de pauvres- qu'il servait lui-même avec une merveilleuse
affection; il assistait aussi ceux qui avoient quelque affliction corporelle, comme
estropiés, aveugles, paralytiques et autres semblables personnes affligées de
quelque maladie que ce fût, et revêtait ceux qui étaient nus, dans la rigueur
de l'hiver, leur donnant ce qui leur était nécessaire. De plus, il se mit à
exhorter son peuple, et particulièrement les soldats, qui étaient pour la
plupart infectés de l'hérésie des Iconoclastes, i suivre les décrets de
l'Église universelle, dressés par les six conciles généraux, célébrés en divers
temps, parce que c'était le vrai moyen de se contenir dans la bergerie de
Jésus-Christ, et d'éviter la gueule des loups.
Et afin d'avoir de braves
soldats, instruits et bien exercés en ce qui est des mystères de notre foi,
pour combattre cette misérable hérésie qui continuait encore, il bâtit un
monastère au côté gauche du Bosphore de Thrace, où il mit un grand nombre de
religieux savants, afin d'être de fermes colonnes pour le soutien de la foi
catholique. Après cela il se mit en devoir de faire exécuter la promesse que
lui avait donnée l'empereur, de faire célébrer un concile général pour pacifier
l'Église et abolir l'hérésie. Ce fut pour cela que l'année suivante, à savoir
785, l'empereur Constantin, et Irène sa mère, écrivirent au pape Adrien
touchant la création et la consécration de Taraise; ce qu'il fit aussi
lui-même, lui envoyant sa profession de foi.
Les lettres des empereurs
se trouvent dans saint Anastase an préambule du concile de Nicée, par
lesquelles ils le suppliaient de se transporter à Constantinople, pour présider
au concile qui s'y devait assembler, comme le premier souverain et prêtre en la
place de saint Pierre, ou d'y envoyer quelqu'un en sa place. Pour celles de
saint Taraise, on ne les trouve point, si ce n'étaient les mêmes qu'il envoya
aux trois patriarches de l'Église orientale sur le même sujet. Le pape fit
réponse aux empereurs, par laquelle après avoir prouvé la vénération des
images, il les reprend d'avoir donné le titre d'universel au patriarche
Taraise, et les exhorte à extirper l'hérésie des Iconoclastes. Il écrivit aussi
à saint Taraise, blâmant son ordination; laquelle toutefois il approuverait,
s'il procurait envers l'empereur le rétablissement des imagesEnfin l'an 776, au
mois d'août, par le commandement de l'empereur, plusieurs prélats et évêques
s'étant assemblés à Constantinople en l'église de Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul,
une troupe de soldats et plusieurs autres hérétiques se présentèrent devant
l'église où les prélats étaient, criant qu'ils ne permettraient jamais l'usage
des images, et que s'ils faisaient au contraire, ils rompraient les portes et
les saccageraient tous; de sorte qu'ils contraignirent les Pères de l'Église de
se retirer sans rien faire, par l'avis même de l'empereur, lequel après
feignant d'envoyer une armée contre les Arabes, lorsque les soldats furent loin
de la ville, il leur fit mettre les armes bas, les rendit incapables de les
porter, et les renvoya chacun chez soi en punition de leur sédition.
Cette émotion étonna fort
les catholiques; mais notre Taraise demeurant ferme et sans crainte, entra dans
l'église, y célébra la sainte messe, et puis il s'en retourna en son logis,
recherchant les moyens de célébrer ce concile. Le mois de mai de l'année
suivante, 787, l'empereur reconvoqua l'assemblée des prélats en la ville de
Nicée, en Bythinie, (en laquelle fut célébré ce tant renommé concile contre
l'hérésie d'Arius) où notre saint Taraise tenait le premier rang après les
légats du pape. Là il fut arrêté par les saints Pères, que c'était une chose
pieuse et sainte d'avoir et de vénérer des images de Notre-Seigneur, de la
très-sainte Vierge, sa mère, des saints, anathématisant tous ceux qui
soutiendraient le contraire.
Le concile étant ainsi
achevé, saint Taraise retourna à son église, où, par ses saintes exhortations,
il commença à ramener à la bergerie de Jésus-Christ et à l'observance des
divins commandements, les ouailles qui en avoient été soustraites par l'hérésie
: ce qu'il fit encore par la réformation de son clergé, corrigeant quelques
abus entre les ecclésiastiques, condamnant et bannissant la simonie qui se
pratiquait entre eux.
Autant saint Taraise se
montrait sévère et rigoureux envers les impies et les méchants, autant était-il
affable et miséricordieux envers les affligés. Un certain magistrat, des plus
avancés en dignité auprès de l'empereur, ayant été accusé d'avoir volé les
finances de sa majesté, fut emprisonné et questionné avec tous les artifices
possibles, afin de lui faire avouer le fait. Ce pauvre homme se voyant
ainsi maltraité, s'avisa de s'enfuir. Ce qu'il fit en une nuit, et se sauva
dans l'église comme en un lieu de refuge, embrassant le coin de l'autel. Les
gardes eu furent incontinent avertis, et n'osant pas mettre la main sur lui là
dedans, ils environnèrent l'église, résolus d'attendre qu'il fût contraint de
sortir pan la nécessité de boire et de manger, ou par quelque autre
nécessité corporelle; mais le saint pasteur étant averti du danger où était son
ouaille, y courut secrètement, lui portant tout ce qui lui était nécessaire, le
conduisant même au lieu où la nature l'obligeait d'aller.
C'était là certes une
grande charité. Mais par malheur l'affaire fut découverte par les soldats, qui
y surprirent le pauvre criminel, et l'arrachèrent d'entre les bras de son pieux
prélat. Ce saint homme voyant qu'il fallait céder à la force, se servit des
armes spirituelles, excommuniant tous ceux qui lui feraient outrage. Ce qui fut
cause que ne T'osant plus questionner, que de paroles seulement, il fut envoyé
absous, et déclaré innocent du crime qui lui était imputé.
Sa généreuse constance ne
le rendit pas moins célèbre que sa charité. L'impératrice Irène, mère du jeune
Constantin, s'étant démise du gouvernement de l'empire, en chargea son fils
Constantin. Ce jeune empereur, quoiqu'il fût assez bon prince, s'imagina que sa
puissance ne devait point être limitée; si bien qu'emporté par une témérité
assez ordinaire à la jeunesse, et devenu insolent par son impudicité, il voulut
répudier l'impératrice Marie, sa légitime épouse, pour se marier avec une de
ses dames d'honneur, nommée Théodotes, dont il était devenu éperdument
amoureux. Mais pour colorer sa passion brutale d'un prétexte spécieux, il
feignit que sa femme l'avait voulu empoisonner. Et comme il était convenable
que la dissolution se fit du consentement de son prélat, il lui envoya dire ses
raisons. Il croyait que tout dût ployer sous ses volontés, mais il fut bien
trompé dans ses prétentions; car le brave prélat ne voulut jamais consentir à
ce divorce, tant pour l'innocence de l'impératrice, que parce que cela est
contre l'expresse parole de Notre-Seigneur.
N'ayant donc pu tirer le
consentement de saint Taraise pour son mariage, ou plutôt son concubinage avec
Théodotes, il se servit d'un autre prêtre appelé Joseph, économe de l'église de
Constantinople, pour ce prétendu mariage et pour le couronnement de sa nouvelle
épouse. L'accomplissement de ce mariage fut très-sensible à saint Taraise,
parce que d'un côté c'était une chose qu'en conscience il ne pouvait permettre
; d'autre part il craignait qu'eu se montrant trop exact, il ne portât l'empereur
à persécuter l'Église au lieu de la défendre; en effet, il menaçait déjà de
renverser les images, ainsi qu'avoient fait ses prédécesseurs. De soi le, que
mêlant un peu de douceur avec la correction, il se ménagea de telle sorte
contre la faute de l'empereur, qu'il ne le priva point de la communion de
l'Église, et ne chassa point ce Joseph qui avait servi au mariage et au
couronnement de Théodotes. Ce qui fut cause aussi d'autre part, que saint
Platon et plusieurs autres moines, qui blâmaient le procédé de l'empereur,
criant haut et clair contre lui, trouvèrent mauvais de ce que saint Taraise,
par une sainte intention, ne s'était pas montré plus rigoureux en cette
affaire-là, et pour ce sujet ils se retirèrent de sa communication.
Cependant l'empereur voyant
que saint Taraise persistait toujours en sa constance, et qu'il s'opposait sans
cesse à ses brutales passions, commença à le haïr et à le persécuter, et tous
les siens, lui donnant même des gardes hérétiques, afin de l'affliger d'autant
plus que c'était leur grand ennemi. Mais toutes ces traverses n'ébranlèrent
jamais ce cœur généreux, au contraire il les supportait avec une patience
inimitable; il ne laissait pas pour cela d'aller à l'église, de prêcher, de
prier et de dire la messe, sans donner la moindre apparence d'impatience ou de
faiblesse.
Quelque temps après,
notre saint patriarche, ayant gouverné l'église de Constantinople vingt-deux
ans, tomba en une grande maladie, qui lui causa la mort. Cependant il ne
laissait pas de faire en l'église l'office d'un vrai prélat, jusque-là que ne
pouvant pas se tenir debout le long de la messe, à cause de sa grande débilité,
il se faisait mettre une table de bois devant l'autel, sur laquelle se penchant
et s'appuyant l'estomac et le cœur, il achevait ainsi le saint Sacrifice.
Mais la violence du mal s'augmentant, il fut contraint de s'aliter. Il eut
alors un furieux combat contre les diables qui se présentaient devant lui, et
qui lui objectaient beaucoup de crimes dont ils le voulaient rendre coupable ;
mais sans s'ébranler il leur résista vaillamment, il répondit à toutes leurs
raisons, et se montra innocent; si bien qu'ils ne le purent convaincre d'aucun
vice. Ceux qui l'assistaient le voyaient et l'entendaient ainsi parler.
Enfin, après ce combat,
il rendit l'âme à Dieu au grand regret d'un chacun, l'au de Notre-Seigneur 806,
le 25 février, sur l'heure de vêpres, sous le pontificat du pape Léon III, le
deuxième de l'empire de Nicéphore. Le deuil eu fut général. L'empereur en
conçut une si grande tristesse qu'il semblait être incapable d'aucune
consolation, se jetant sur son corps, le regrettant avec des termes remplis de
douleur. Les religieux, les pauvres, les orphelins, les veuves et les
prisonniers le pleuraient amèrement. Bref, il fut honorablement enseveli dans
le monastère qu'il avait fait bâtir au côté gauche du Bosphore, en l'église de
tous les martyrs.
Depuis, Dieu honora son
sépulcre de plusieurs miracles. Une femme grandement affligée d'un flux de
sang, avait consumé presque tous ses moyens à chercher des remèdes dans la
médecine, mais voyant que son mal était sans remède humain, elle eut recours
aux divins. Elle crut que si elle pouvait faire ses dévotions au sépulcre de
saint Taraise, infailliblement elle recouvrerait la santé. Toutefois ce lieu étant
saint et bien réglé, et n'étant pas permis aux femmes d'y entrer, elle eut bien
de la peine à trouver le moyen d'y aborder; elle eut enfin recours à
l'artifice, et pour cacher son sexe, elle y entra, revêtue de l'habit d'un
homme; là, après avoir fait ses dévotions et bu de l'huile de la lampe qui
brûlait devant le tombeau du saint, elle fut incontinent guérie.
Un homme ayant grand mal
à un œil, trouva du soulagement aussi par le même remède. De plus, une
multitude innombrable de personnes cruellement tourmentées des diables, de
boiteux, d'aveugles, et d'autres malades de diverses maladies se trouvaient
soulagés et guéris par l'invocation de saint Taraise.
Les hérétiques
ressentirent au contraire l'effet de la haine qu'il leur portait après sa mort.
L'empereur Léon fut un de ceux qui persécuta beaucoup l'Église, et qui
soutenait hautement l'hérésie des Iconoclastes. Il fut tué par un des partisans
d'un nommé Michel le Bègue qu'il tenait prisonnier, et qui était condamné à la
mort pour crime de lèse-majesté, de quoi il avait eu plusieurs avertissements.
Six jours auparavant, il avait vu en songe saint Taraise qui s'approchant de
lui en grande colère, commandait à un certain Michel de lui donner de son épée
dans le ventre, et que ce Michel avait fait son commandement. Il est vrai que
l'empereur, voulant savoir qui était ce Michel, s'en alla au monastère du saint
où il traita cruellement les religieux, croyant par la violence en avoir la
connaissance ; l'appréhension de la mort lui faisant déclarer sa vision. Mais
enfin, six jours après, il fut tué. Ce ne serait jamais fait si on voulait
raconter tous les miracles que Dieu a opérés par les mérites de saint Taraise.
Plusieurs auteurs font
mention de lui, comme Théophane en ses Annales des Grecs; Théodore Studite, abbé,
en la vie de saint Platon ; Michel, moine studite, en la vie du même saint
Théodore, et Ignace, moine au monastère que saint Taraise fit bâtir au Bosphore
de Thrace, qui fut témoin oculaire de la plupart des actions du saint
patriarche ; saint Anastase, le second concile de Nicée ; Baronius en ses
Annales, et Surius rapporte aussi sa vie bien amplement à son ordinaire.
Pedro de Ribadeneyra : Les vies des saints et fêtes de toute l'année, Volume 2 ; traduction : Timoléon Vassel de Fautereau
SOURCE : http://nouvl.evangelisation.free.fr/taraise_de_constantinople.htm
Saint Taraise
750 - 806
Patriarche de Constantinople
Fêté le 25 février
Taraise naquit à Constantinople. Sa mère, Eucratie, femme d’une grande piété,
se chargea elle-même de son éducation. Son père Georges exerçait une charge
importante dans la magistrature, soucieux de défendre les plus faibles. Il
devint un haut fonctionnaire à la cour de l’empereur Constantin Porphyrogenitos
(780-797) et de sa mère l’impératrice Irène. En cette période troublée de
l’hérésie iconoclaste, l’impératrice voulut un homme de valeur à la tête de
l’Eglise pour rétablir le culte des icônes. Le saint patriarche Paul IV, un
moment favorable aux hérétiques, s’était repenti et retiré dans le monastère de
Florus. A l’impératrice qui lui demandait un digne successeur, il lui conseilla
Taraise, son premier secrétaire, en qui il reconnaissait toutes les qualités
requises pour la charge de pasteur et de défenseur de l’Eglise de
Constantinople. Mais celui-ci n’était encore que laïc. Dans un premier temps,
il refusa cet honneur se considérant indigne de ce ministère. Finalement il
accepta à condition qu’un concile œcuménique soit convoqué pour mettre fin à la
scission hérétique et rétablir le culte des icônes. Ordonné peu de temps après,
il devint patriarche de Constantinople en 784, soucieux d’être en communion
avec Rome et les trois autres patriarches d’Orient.
Le premier août 786, le septième Concile œcuménique fut convoqué par Tarasie dans l’église des saints apôtres à Constantinople. 367 évêques y étaient présents ainsi que les représentants du pape Adrien I, évêque de Rome. Dès la première session, les iconoclastes s’y montrèrent particulièrement violents. Devant cette lutte, Taraise, dans la force de la douceur, resta seul dans l’église et célébra la divine liturgie. Pour mieux assurer la paix, le concile fut transféré à Nicée et les mesures furent prises pour éviter de nouveaux affrontements violents. Avec sagesse, prudence et autorité, Taraise dirigea les débats. Le Concile rétablit le culte des icônes. Taraise s’évertua ensuite à ramener, avec sa douceur bien connue, les évêques iconoclastes repentis. Il ne fut pas toujours suivi par ses pairs. En effet, pour que renaisse la paix dans l’Eglise, il pratiqua une politique de réconciliation, que certains évêques restés fidèles lui reprochèrent.
Pendant vingt-deux ans, il gouverna l’Eglise avec sagesse menant une vie d’ascète dans la pauvreté, plein d’une grande attention à l’égard des pauvres, des veuves et des orphelins qu’il secourait. Riche d’une intense charité, il construisit des hospices pour accueillir les étrangers. Il protégea un homme injustement accusé dont il parvint à prouver l’innocence. Il voua un amour profond à la Sainte Vierge qu’il chanta en des pages admirables : "De quelles louanges Vous comblerons-nous, s'écrie-t-il, ô Vierge immaculée, Vierge sans tache, ornement des femmes et splendeur des vierges!"
Lorsque l’empereur Constantin VI, fils d’Irène, répudia son épouse, Marie d’Arménie pour épouser sa femme de chambre, Théodote, Taraise refusa d’annuler son mariage et de célébrer cette seconde union. Cela lui valut la disgrâce de l’empereur. Mais par souci d’épargner de nouvelles épreuves à l’Eglise, il n’excommunia pas l’empereur, il suspendit les prêtres qui avaient célébré cette union. Le célèbre abbé Platon et son neveu, Théodore Studite songèrent cependant à se séparer de lui jugeant son attitude trop magnanime. La mort prématurée de l’empereur ramena le calme et fit taire le scandale.
Pendant toutes ces épreuves, le patriarche garda l’humilité et le recueillement, priant Dieu pour sa propre sanctification et celle de son peuple. Une longue et douloureuse maladie l’avertit de sa fin prochaine. Son biographe, témoin oculaire, raconte qu’il tomba en extase peu avant sa mort. Il eut à livrer de terribles combats avec les démons qu’il avait vaincus au Concile.
Taraise mourut à l’âge de soixante-seize ans, le 25 février 806, pleuré par
l’Eglise de Constantinople. L’empereur Nicéphore lui-même le regretta, car,
disait-il, il avait perdu un père, un pasteur et une aide dans le gouvernement
de l’empire. Il fut enterré dans le monastère qu’il avait fait construire sur
le Bosphore. Dans les années qui suivirent, de nombreux miracles eurent lieu
sur sa tombe et très vite, tant les Grecs que les Latins lui rendirent un culte.
Sources : Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours,
Mame,
RR. PP. Bénédictins de Paris, Vie des Saints et Bienheureux, Letouzey et Ané, 1936
OCA (Orthodox Church of America), St Tarasius the Archbishop of Constantinople,
Internet[/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT]
SOURCE : http://orthodoxie.centerblog.net/3656181-Saint-Taraise
Saint
Tatrasios
Saint Tarasius of
Constantinople
Also
known as
Father of the Poor
Taraisius
Tarasio
Tarasios
Tharasius
18
February (Roman Martyrology)
25
February (Byzantine Rite)
Profile
Born to the Byzantine nobility.
Consul and then Secretary of State to Emperor Constantine IV and Empress Irene.
Though a courtier in
the most political of empires, he led the life of a monk.
Unanimously chosen Patriarch of Constantinople; Tarasius said that he could not
accept such a trust when his see was
cut off from full commuion with Rome, which had happened under his predecessor.
He convoked a Council on 1
August 786 to
settle the dispute of the use of holy images,
but Iconoclasts rioted,
and the Council was reconvened in 787 in
Nicea; the Council determined that the Church was
in favour of images,
and the Pope approved.
Tarasius lived an ascetic life, eating simply and little, sleeping little,
reading, praying,
working for the Church.
When the emperor put away his wife and
got a priest to
“marry”
him to a servant,
Tarasius condemned the action and was briefly imprisoned for
his defiance.
Born
c.750 at Constantinople
25
February 806 in Constantinople (modern
Istanbul, Turkey) of natural causes
relics preserved
in the church of
San Zaccaria, Venice, Italy
Additional
Information
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Alban
Butler
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saints
of the Day, by Katherine Rabenstein
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America
images
video
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
fonti
in italiano
spletne
strani v slovenšcini
MLA
Citation
“Saint Tarasius of
Constantinople“. CatholicSaints.Info. 17 February 2023. Web. 26 August 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/saint-tarasius-of-constantinople/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/saint-tarasius-of-constantinople/
(Saint) Bishop (February
25) (9th century)
A Patriarch of Constantinople who
presided over that Church in the troublous times of the Iconoclast Emperors.
The Empress Irene, a cruel and worthless woman,
was a principal abettor of the heretics.
In the Acts of the Second Council of Constantinople, convened by Pope Hadrian
I to oppose the innovators, Saint Tharasius
is first named after the Papal Legates.
Throughout his Episcopate the Saint showed
himself, as a shepherd of souls, able and willing to denounce the vices of the
Byzantine Princes and
of their profligate Courts.
On the other hand, he earned for himself the glorious title of “Father of the
poor.” He died holily,
as he had lived, A.D. 806.
MLA
Citation
Monks of Ramsgate.
“Tharasius”. Book of Saints, 1921. CatholicSaints.Info.
9 April 2023. Web. 26 August 2025.
<https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-tharasius/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/book-of-saints-tharasius/
St. Tarasius
Feastday: February 25
Birth: 730
Death: 806
St. Tarasius was subject
of the Byzantine Empire. He was raised to the highest honors in the Empire as
Consul, and later became first secretary to the Emperor Constantine and his
mother, Irene. When being elected Patriarch of
Constantinople, he consented to accept the dignity offered to him only on condition that
a General Council should be summoned to resolve the disputes concerning the
veneration of sacred images, for Constantinople had
been separated from the Holy See on
account of the war between
the Emperors. The Council was held in the Church of the Holy Apostles at Constantinople in
786; it met again the following year at Nice and
its decrees were approved by the Pope. The holy Patriarch incurred
the enmity of the Emperor by his persistent refusal to sanction his
divorce from his lawful wife. He witnessed the death of Constantine, which was
occasioned by his own mother; he beheld the reign and the downfall of Irene and
usurpation of Nicephorus. St. Tarasius' whole life in
the Episcopacy was one of penance and
prayer, and of hard labor to reform his clergy and people. He occupied the See
of Constantinople twenty-one
years and two months. His charity toward the poor was one of the characteristic
virtues of his life. He visited in person, all the houses and hospitals in
Constantinople, so that no indigent person might
be overlooked in the distribution of alms. This saintly Bishop was
called to his eternal reward in the year 806. His feast day is February
25th.
SOURCE : https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=158
Tarasius of Constantinople B (RM)
(also known as Tharasius)
Died 806. Tarasius's father, George, was a judge held in high esteem for his
even-handed justice, and his mother, Eucratia, no less celebrated for her
piety. (He was the uncle or great-uncle of Saint Photius.) He was raised in the
practice of virtue and taught to choose his friends wisely. As a layman, he was
secretary of state to the ten-year-old Constantine VI. In the midst of the
court and all its honors, surrounded by all that could flatter pride or gratify
sensuality, Tarasius led a life like that of a professed religious.
Empress Irene, regent for her son, privately a Catholic during her husband's
lifetime, schemed to gain power over the whole government to end the
persecution of the Catholics by the Iconoclasts. She was an ambitious, artful,
and heartlessly cruel women, but she was opposed to Iconoclasm. At the same
time, Paul VI, patriarch of Constantinople, resigned his see in repentance for
conforming to the heresy of the deceased Emperor Leo. As soon as Irene learned
that he had taken the religious habit of Florus Monastery, she visited him and
tried to dissuade him. Paul's resolution was unalterable for he wished to
repair the scandal he had given. He suggested Tarasius as a worthy replacement.
And so Irene named the layman Tarasius, patriarch of Constantinople. There was
unanimous consent by the court, clergy, and people. Tarasius objected, in part
because he felt a priest should be chosen, but primarily because he could not
in conscience accept the government of a see that had been cut off from Catholic
communion. Finally, he accepted the position upon condition that a general
council should be called to settle the dispute over the use of images. He was
consecrated on Christmas Day, 784.
Soon after his consecration he wrote letters to Pope Adrian I (as did Irene)
and the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem requesting their
attendance or that of their legates at the seventh ecumenical council. The Holy
Father sent legates with letters to the emperor, empress, and patriarch that,
in the presence of his legates, the false council of the Iconoclasts should
first be condemned and efforts made to re-establish holy images throughout the
empire. (His legates, who assumed the presidency of the council, were Peter,
archpriest of the Roman church, and Peter, priest and abbot of Saint Sabas in
Rome.)
The Eastern patriarchs, being under the yoke of the Islamics, could not come
for fear of offending their overlords, but they sent their deputies. The
council opened at Constantinople August 1, 786, but was disturbed by the
violence of Iconoclasts; therefore, the empress dispersed the council until the
following year.
The Second Council of Nicaea at the Church of Hagia Sophia was attended by the
pope's legates, Tarasius, John (priest and monk representing the patriarchs of
Antioch and Jerusalem), Thomas (for the patriarch of Alexandria), and 350
bishops, plus many abbots and other holy priests and confessors. The assembled
agreed that it was the sense of the Church to allow holy pictures and other images
a relative honor, but not, of course, that worship that is due to God alone. He
who revers the image, it was emphasized, reveres the person it represents. Once
the council was ended, synodal letters were sent to all churches and, in
particular, to the pope for his approval of the council, which was forthcoming.
In keeping with the resolutions of the General Council of Nicaea in 787,
Tarasius restored statues and images to the churches and worked to eliminate
simony. He also forbade the use of gold and scarlet among his clergy.
The life of Tarasius was a model of perfection to his clergy and people. He
lived austerely, slept little, and became known for his acts of charity. He
would take the meat from his table to distribute among the poor with his own hands
and assigned them a large, fixed revenue. To ensure hat no one would be
overlooked, he visited all the houses and hospitals in Constantinople. Reading
and prayer filled all his leisure hours. It was his pleasure, in imitation of
our Lord, to serve others rather than being served by them. He powerfully
exhorted universal mortification of the senses, and was particularly severe
against all theatrical entertainments.
Constantine turned against him in 795 when Tarasius refused to sanction his
divorce from Empress Mary, whom his mother had pressured him to marry.
Constantine even tried to coerce his support by deceit saying that Mary had
plotted to poison the bishop. Tarasius remained firm, replying, "Tell him
I will suffer death rather than consent to his design."
Next Constantine tried flattery. He said: "I can conceal nothing from you
whom I regard as my father. No one can deny that I may divorce one who has
attempted to take my life. The Empress Mary deserves death or perpetual
penance." He produced a vial of poison that he pretended she had prepared
for him. The patriarch, convinced that Constantine was trying to hoodwink him,
responded that although Mary's crime was horrid, his second marriage during her
lifetime would still be contrary to the law of God.
Constantine wished to marry Theodota, one of Mary's maids, and forced his wife
into a convent. But Tarasius still refused to perform the marriage ceremony.
This scandalous example led to several governors and other powerful men
divorcing their wives or entering bigamous relationships, and gave
encouragement to public lewdness. Saints Plato and Theodorus separated
themselves from the emperor's communion to show their abhorrence of his crime.
Tarasius did not think it was prudent to excommunicate the emperor who might
restore iconoclasm in a resultant rage.
Tarasius was persecuted by Constantine thereafter. No one could speak to the
patriarch without the permission of the emperor. Spies watched his every move.
Tarasius's servants and relatives were banished. This semi-confinement gave
Tarasius more free time for contemplation. While being persecuted for his
orthodoxy by the emperor, Saint Theodore and his monks of Studium accused
Tarasius of being too lenient. Some days you just can't win!
Irene won over the elite, seized power and had Constantine imprisoned and
blinded (such gentle folks, eh?) with so much violence that he died in 797.
During her five-year reign, she recalled all those who had been banished. After
Nicephorus seized the throne in 802, Irene was exiled to Lesbos. Tarasius
completed his 21-year reign under Nicephorus tending to his flock and saying
Mass daily. Shortly before his death, Tarasius fell into a trance, as his
biographer, who was present, relates, and he seemed to be disputing with a
number of accusers who were busily scrutinizing all the actions of his life and
making accusations. The saint appeared to be i great agitation as he defended
himself against their charges. But a wonderful serenity succeeded, and the holy
man gave up his soul to God in peace.
God honored the memory of Tarasius with miracles, some of which are related by
the author of his vita. His feast was first celebrated by his successor.
Fourteen years after Tarasius's death, the iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian dreamed
just before his own death that he saw Saint Tarasius highly incensed against
him, and heard him command one named Michael to stab him. Leo, thinking this
Michael to be a monk in the saint's monastery, ordered him to be brought before
him and even tortured some of the religious to hand him over, but there was no
Michael among them. Leo was killed six days later by Michael Balbus
(Benedictines, Husenbeth, Walsh, White)
In art, Saint Tarasius is an Eastern bishop with a picture of saints by him. He may also be shown at the time the emperor visited him on his death bed; or serving the poor at table (Roeder, White).
SOURCE : http://www.saintpatrickdc.org/ss/0225.shtml
St. Tarasius
Patriarch of
Constantinople, date of
birth unknown; died 25 February, 806. He was the son of the Patrician and
Prefect of Constantinople, George, and his wife Eukratia, and entered the
service of the State. In 784 when Paul IV Patriarch of
Constantinople died Tarasius was an imperial secretary, and a champion of the
veneration of images. It may be that before his death the patriarch had
recommended Tarasius as his successor in the patriarchate to the
Empress Irene who was regent for her son Constantine VI (780-797). After the
burial of Paul IV a great popular assembly was held before the Magnaura Palace
to discuss the filling of the vacant see. The empress delivered an oration on
the new appointment to the patriarchate and
the people proclaimed Tarasius as the most worthy candidate. The empress agreed
but said that Tarasius refused to accept the position. Tarasius now made a
speech himself in which he declared he felt himself unworthy of the office,
further that the elevation of a layman was very
hazardous, and that the position of the Church of
Constantinople had become a very difficult one, as it was separated from
the Catholics of
Western Europe and
isolated from the other Oriental patriarchates;
consequently he would only be willing to accept the position of patriarch on
condition that Church unity be restored and that, in connection with the pope, an oecumenical
council be called. The majority of the populace approved of these views and the
imperial Court agreed to it. So on 25 December, 784, Tarasius was consecrated patriarch.
In 785 he sent the priest George
as his legate to Hadrian I with a
letter in which he announced his appointment. In his reply the pope expressed his
disapproval of the elevation of Tarasius directly from the laity to the
dignity of a bishop contrary
to canonical regulation, but allowed clemency to rule in view of the orthodoxy of the
new patriarch's views, and recognized him as patriarch. After this by joint
action with the pope and
the imperial Court Tarasius called the Second Council of Nicaea,
the Seventh
Ecumenical Council, which rejected Iconoclasm. Union with
the Roman Church was
restored.
After the synod the
patriarch had a number of struggles not only with the Iconoclastic party
of the capital but also with a party of Orthodox monks. First, the latter
upbraided him for restoring to office the bishops who had
formerly maintained Iconoclasm,
but who had submitted to the decrees of the Council of 787. As, however, this
was in accordance with the decrees of the council the accusation was allowed to
drop. Another accusation was much more serious, namely, that Tarasius tolerated
and encouraged simony,
because those bishops who
had given money to obtain their positions were only commanded by him to do a
year's penance and were permitted to retain their offices. The patriarch
defended himself in writing against this accusation which he denied in toto;
moreover, he issued a severe synodal letter against Simonists. The monks, however, were not
satisfied; they maintained their accusations and also attacked the Council of
787. At a later date Theodore
of Studium, who took part in these disputes, changed his opinion of
Tarasius, and also of the Second Council of Nicaea,
the oecumenical character of which he acknowledged. Many serious difficulties
still existed in regard to Western Europe. There were also
fresh disputes in Constantinople when the Emperor Constantine VI put aside his
lawful wife and wished to marry Theodata, a relative of Abbot Theodore of Studium.
Tarasius positively refused to perform the second marriage and expressed his
displeasure at the conduct of the priest Joseph who
had married the emperor. The zealous monks, whose leaders
were the Abbots Plato of Saccudium and Theodore of Studium,
accused the patriarch of weakness, because he took no further steps against the
emperor. They refused to have Church fellowship any longer with Tarasius, and
were, consequently, violently persecuted by the
emperor who, however, also treated the patriarch harshly. After Irene had
dethroned Constantine in 797, Tarasius deposed the priest Joseph and
peace was once more restored between the patriarch and the monks. (See THEODORE OF STUDIUM). In
802 Tarasius crowned as
emperor Nicephorus, who had overthrown Irene, an act that greatly dissatisfied
the populace. The patriarch had nothing to do with the intrigues of the court.
His life was ascetic and simple, he checked the luxury of the clergy, preached with
great zeal, and
was very benevolent to the poor. After his death he was venerated as a
saint. His name is also placed in the Roman Martyrology under the date of 25
February.
Kirsch, Johann
Peter. "St. Tarasius." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
14. New York: Robert Appleton
Company, 1912. <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14451b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Michael C. Tinkler.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2023 by Kevin Knight.
Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14451b.htm
February 25
St. Tarasius, Patriarch
of Constantinople, Confessor
From his life written by
Ignatius, his disciple, afterwards bishop of Nice, and from the church
historians of his time. See Bollandus, t. 5. p. 576. Fleury, B. 44.
TARASIUS was born about the middle of the eighth century. His parents were both of patrician families. His father, George, was a judge in great esteem for his well-known justice, and his mother, Eucratia, no less celebrated for her piety. She brought him up in the practice of the most eminent virtues. Above all things she recommended to him to keep no company but that of the most virtuous. The young man, by his talents and virtue, gained the esteem of all, and was raised to the greatest honours of the empire, being made consul, and afterwards first secretary of state to the emperor Constantine and the empress Irene, his mother. In the midst of the court, and in its highest honours, surrounded by all that could flatter pride, or gratify sensuality, he led a life like that of a religious man.
Leo, the Isaurian, his
son Constantine Copronymus, and his grandson Leo, surnamed Chazarus, three
successive emperors, had established, with all their power, the heresy of the
Iconoclasts, or image-breakers, in the East. The empress Irene, wife to the
last, was always privately a Catholic, though an artful, ambitious woman. Her
husband dying miserably in 780, after a five years’ reign, and having left his
son Constantine, but ten years old, under her guardianship, she so managed the
nobility in her favour, as to get the regency and whole government of the state
into her hands, and put a stop to the persecution of the Catholics. Paul,
patriarch of Constantinople, the third of that name, had been raised to that
dignity by the late emperor. Though, contrary to the dictates of his own
conscience, he had conformed in some respects to the then reigning heresy, he
had however several good qualities; and was not only singularly beloved by the
people for his charity to the poor, but highly esteemed by the empress and the
whole court for his great prudence. Finding himself indisposed, and being
touched with remorse for his condescension to the Iconoclasts in the former
reign, without communicating his design to any one, he quitted the patriarchal
see, and put on a religious habit in the monastery of Floras, in
Constantinople. The empress was no sooner informed of it, but taking with her
the young emperor, went to the monastery to dissuade a person so useful to her
from persisting in such a resolution, but all in vain; for the patriarch assured
them with tears, and bitter lamentations, that, in order to repair the scandal
he had given, he had taken an unalterable resolution to end his days in that
monastery, so desired them to provide the church of Constantinople with a
worthy pastor in his room. Being asked whom he thought equal to the charge, he
immediately named Tarasius, and dying soon after this declaration, Tarasius was
accordingly chosen patriarch by the unanimous consent of the court, clergy, and
people. Tarasius finding it in vain to oppose his election, declared, however,
that he thought he could not in conscience accept of the government of a see
which had been cut off from the Catholic communion, but upon condition that a
general council should be called to compose the disputes which divided the
church at that time, in relation to holy images. This being agreed to, he was
solemnly declared patriarch, and consecrated soon after, on Christmas-day. He
was no sooner installed, but he sent his synodal letters to Pope Adrian, to
whom the empress also wrote in her own and her son’s name on the subject of a
general council; begging that he would either come in person, or at least send
some venerable and learned men as his legates to Constantinople. Tarasius wrote
likewise a letter to the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem,
wherein he desires them to send their respective legates to the intended
council. His letter to the pope was to the same effect. The pope sent his
legates, as desired, and wrote by them to the emperor, the empress, and the
patriarch; applauded their zeal, showing at large the impiety of the Iconoclast
heresy, insisting that the false council of Iconoclasts, held under Copronymus
for the establishment of Iconoclasm, should be first condemned in presence of
his legates, and conjuring them before God to re-establish holy images at
Constantinople, and in all Greece, on the footing they were before. He
recommends to the emperor and empress his two legates to the council, who were
Peter, archpriest of the Roman church, and Peter, priest and abbot of St.
Sabas, in Rome. The eastern patriarchs being under the Saracen yoke, could not
come for fear of giving offence to their jealous masters, who prohibited, under
the strictest penalties, all commerce with the empire. However, with much
difficulty and through many dangers, they sent their deputies.
The legates of the pope
and the oriental patriarchs being arrived, as also the bishops under their
jurisdiction, the council was opened on the 1st of August, in the church of the
apostles at Constantinople, in 786. But the assembly being disturbed by the
violences of the Iconoclasts, and desired by the empress to break up and
withdraw for the present, the council met again the year following in the
church of St. Sophia, at Nice. The two legates from the pope are named first in
the Acts, St. Tarasius next, and after him the legates of the Oriental
patriarchs, namely, John, priest and monk, for the patriarchs of Antioch and
Jerusalem; and Thomas, priest and monk, for the patriarch of Alexandria. The
council consisted of three hundred and fifty bishops, besides many abbots and
other holy priests and confessors, 1 who
having declared the sense of the present church, in relation to the matter in
debate, which was found to be the allowing to holy pictures and images a
relative honour, the council was closed with the usual acclamations and prayers
for the prosperity of the emperor and empress. After which, synodal letters
were sent to all the churches, and in particular to the pope, who approved the
council.
The good patriarch,
pursuant to the decrees of the synod, restored holy images throughout the
extent of his jurisdiction. He also laboured zealously to abolish simony, and
wrote a letter upon that subject to Pope Adrian, in which, by saying it was the
glory of the Roman church to preserve the purity of the priesthood, he
intimated that that church was free from this reproach. The life of this holy
patriarch was a model of perfection to his clergy and people. His table had
nothing of the superfluity nor his palace anything of the magnificence, of
several of his predecessors. He allowed himself very little time for sleep,
being always up the first and last in his family. Reading and prayer filled all
his leasure hours. It was his pleasure, in imitation of our blessed Redeemer,
to serve others instead of being served by them, on which account he would
scarcely permit his own servants to do anything for him. Loving humility in
himself, he sought sweetly to induce all others to the love of that virtue. He
banished the use of gold and scarlet from amongst the clergy, and laboured to
extirpate all the irregularities among the people. His charity and love for the
poor seemed to surpass his other virtues. He often took the dishes of meat from
his table to distribute among them with his own hands: and he assigned them a
large fixed revenue. And that none might be overlooked, he visited all the
houses and hospitals in Constantinople. In Lent, especially, his bounty to them
was incredible. His discourses were powerful exhortations to the universal
mortification of the senses, and he was particularly severe against all
theatrical entertainments.
Some time after, the
emperor became enamoured of Theodota, a maid of honour to his wife, the empress
Mary, whom he had always hated; and forgetting what he owed to God, he was
resolved to divorce her in 795, after seven years’ cohabitation. He used all
his efforts to gain the patriarch, and sent a principal officer to him for that
purpose, accusing his wife of a plot to poison him. St. Tarasius answered the
messenger, saying: “I know not how the emperor can hear the infamy of so
scandalous an action in the sight of the universe: nor how he will be able to
hinder or punish adulteries and debaucheries, if he himself set such an
example. Tell him that I will rather suffer death and all manner of torments
than consent to his design.” The emperor hoping to prevail with him by
flattery, sent for him to the palace, and said to him: “I can conceal nothing
from you, whom I regard as my father. No one can deny but I may divorce one who
has attempted my life. She deserves death or perpetual penance.” He then
produced a vessel, as he pretended, full of the poison prepared for him. The
patriarch, with good reason, judging the whole to be only an artful contrivance
to impose upon him, answered: that he was too well convinced that his passion
for Theodota was at the bottom of all his complaints against the empress. He
added, that, though she were guilty of the crime he laid to her charge, his
second marriage during her life, with any other, would still be contrary to the
law of God, and that he would draw upon himself the censures of the church by
attempting it. The monk John, who had been legate of the eastern patriarchs in
the seventh council, being present, spoke also very resolutely to the emperor
on the subject, so that the pretors and patricians threatened to stab him on
the spot: and the emperor, boiling with rage, drove them both from his
presence. As soon as they were gone, he turned the empress Mary out of his
palace, and obliged her to put on a religious veil. Tarasius persisting in his
refusal to marry him to Thedota, the ceremony was performed by Joseph,
treasurer of the church of Constantinople.
This scandalous
example was the occasion of several governors and other powerful men divorcing
their wives or taking more than one at the same time, and gave great
encouragement to public lewdness. SS. Plato and Theodorus separated themselves
from the emperor’s communion to show their abhorrence of his crime. But
Tarasius did not think it prudent to proceed to excommunication, as he had threatened,
apprehensive that the violence of his temper, when further provoked, might
carry him still greater lengths, and prompt him to re-establish the heresy
which he had taken such effectual measures to suppress. Thus the patriarch, by
his moderation prevented the ruin of religion, but drew upon himself the
emperor’s resentment, who persecuted him many ways during the remainder of his
reign. Not content to set spies and guards over him, under the name of
Syncelli, who watched all his actions, and suffered no one to speak to him
without their leave, he banished many of his domestics and relations. This
confinement gave the saint the more leisure for contemplation, and he never
ceased in it to recommend his flock to God. The ambitious Irene, finding that all
her contrivances to render her son odious to his subjects had proved
ineffectual to her design, which was to engross the whole power to herself,
having gained over to her party the principal officers of the court and army,
she made him prisoner, and caused his eyes to be plucked out; this was executed
with so much violence that the unhappy prince died of it in 797. After this she
reigned alone five years, during which she recalled all the banished; but at
length met with the deserved reward of her ambition and cruelty from
Nicephorus, a patrician, and the treasurer general; who, in 802, usurped the
empire, and having deposed her, banished her into the isle of Lesbos, where she
soon after died with grief.
St. Tarasius, on the death of the
late emperor, having interdicted and deposed the treasurer Joseph, who had
married and crowned Theodota, St. Plato, and others, who had censured his
lenity, became thoroughly reconciled to him. The saint, under his successor
Nicephorus, persevered peaceably in his practices of penance, and in the
functions of his pastoral charge. In his last sickness he still continued to
offer daily the holy sacrifice as long as he was able to move. A little before
his death he fell into a kind of trance, as the author of his life, who was an
eye-witness, relates, wherein he was heard to dispute and argue with a number
of accusers, very busy in sifting his whole life, and objecting all they could
to it. He seemed in a great fright and agitation on this account, and,
defending himself, answered every thing laid to his charge. This filled all
present with fear, seeing the endeavours of the enemy of man to find something
to condemn even in the life of so holy and so irreprehensible a bishop. But a
great serenity succeeded, and the holy man gave up his soul to God in peace, on
the 25th of February, in 806, having sat twenty-one years and two months. God
honoured his memory with miracles, some of which are related by the author of
his life. His festival began to be celebrated under his successor. The Latin
and Greek churches both honour his memory on this day. Fourteen years after his
decease, Leo the Armenian, the Iconoclast emperor, dreamt a little before his
own death, that he saw St. Tarasius highly incensed against him, and heard him
command one Michael to stab him. Leo judging this Michael to be a monk in the
saint’s monastery, ordered him the next morning to be sought for, and even
tortured some of the religious to oblige them to a discovery of the person: but
it happened there was none of that name among them; and Leo was killed six days
after by Michael Balbus.
The virtue of St. Tarasius was truly
great because constant and crowned with perseverance, though exposed to
continual dangers of illusion or seduction, amidst the artifices of hypocrites
and a wicked court. St. Chrysostom observes, 2 that
the path of virtue is narrow and lies between precipices, in which it is easier
for the traveller to be seized with giddiness even near the end of his course,
and fall. Hence this father most grievously laments the misfortune of king
Ozias, who, after long practising the most heroic virtues, fell, and perished
through pride; and he strenuously exhorts all who walk in the service of God,
constantly to live in fear, watchfulness, humility, and compunction. “A soul,”
says he, “often wants not so much spurring in the beginning of her conversion;
her own fervour and cheerfulness make her run vigorously. But this fervour,
unless it be continually nourished, cools by degrees; then the devil assails
her with all his might. Pirates wait for and principally attack ships when they
are upon the return home laden with riches, rather than empty vessels going out
of the port. Just so the devil when he sees that a soul has gathered great
spiritual riches, by fasts, prayer, alms, chastity, and all other virtues, when
he sees our vessel fraught with rich commodities, then he falls upon her, and
seeks on all sides to break in. What exceedingly aggravates the evil, is the
extreme difficulty of ever rising again after such a fall. To err in the
beginning may be in part a want of experience; but to fall after a long course
is mere negligence, and can deserve no excuse or pardon.”
Note 1. In the third session the letters of
the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem were read, all teaching
the same doctrine of paying a relative honour to sacred images, no less than
the letters of Pope Adrian. Their deputies, John and Thomas, then added, that
the absence of those patriarchs could not affect the authority of the council,
because the tyranny under which they lived made their presence impossible, and
because they had sent their deputies and professions of faith by letter: that
none of the oriental patriarchs had been at the sixth general council,
labouring then under the yoke of the barbarians; yet it was not less an
œcumenical synod, especially “as the apostolic Roman pope agreed to it, and
presided in it by his legates.” This is a clear testimony of the eastern
churches in favour of the authority of the holy see in general councils, and it
cannot in the least be suspected of flattery. In the fourth session were read
many passages of the fathers in favour of the relative honour due to holy
images. After which, all cried out, they were sons of obedience, who placed
their glory in following the tradition of their holy mother the church; and
they pronounced many anathemas against all image-breakers, that is, those who
do not honour holy images, or those who call them idols. In the end they add a
confession of faith, in which they declare, that they honour the mother of God,
who is above all the heavenly powers: then the angels, apostles, prophets,
martyrs, doctors, and all the saints; as also their pictures: for though the
angels are incorporeal, they have appeared like men. This profession of faith
was subscribed by the pope’s legates, St. Tarasius, the legates of the three
other patriarchs, and three hundred and one bishops present, besides a great
many priests and deacons, deputies of absent bishops, and by one hundred and
thirty abbots. In the fifth session were read many passages of fathers
falsified and corrupted by the Iconoclasts, as was clearly shown. The
archpriest, the pope’s legate, demanded that an image should be then set up in
the midst of the assembly, and honoured by all, which was done; and that the
books written against holy images might be condemned and burned, which the
council also ratified. In the sixth session the sham council of the Iconoclasts
under Copronymus was condemned and refuted as to every article: as first, that
it falsely styled itself a general council; for it was not received
but anathematized by the other bishops of the church. Secondly, because the
pope of Rome had no ways concurred to it, neither by himself nor by his
legates, nor by a circular letter, according to the custom of councils: nor had
the western bishops assisted at it. Thirdly, there had not been obtained any
consent of the patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, nor of the
bishops of their respective districts. These are conditions necessary to a
general council, which were all wanting to that sham synod. The council goes on
refuting it, because it accused the church of idolatry; which is giving the lie
to Christ, whose kingdom, according to scripture, is everlasting, and whose
power over hell can never be wrested from him. To accuse the whole church is to
do an injury to Christ. They added, that the sham synod had contradicted itself
by admitting that the six general councils had preserved the faith entire, and
yet condemned the use of images which it must allow to be more ancient than the
sixth council, and which is of as great antiquity as the apostolic age. And
that whereas the same synod had advanced that the clergy being fallen into
idolatry, God had raised faithful emperors to destroy the fortresses of the
devil; the Council of Nice vehemently condemns this, because the bishops are
the depositories of tradition, and not the emperors. It adds, that the
Iconoclasts falsely called the blessed Eucharist the only image, for it is not
an image nor a figure, but the true body and blood of Christ. In the seventh
session was read the definition of faith, declaring, that images ought to be
set up in churches as well as crosses, (which last the Iconoclasts allowed of,)
also to be figured on the sacred vessels and ornaments, on the walls, ceilings,
houses, &c. For the oftener people behold holy images or pictures, the
oftener are they excited to the remembrance of what they represent: that these
images are to be honoured, but not with the worship called Latria, which can
only be given to God: that they shall be honoured with incense and candles, as
the cross, the gospels, and other holy things are; all according to the pious
customs of the ancients. For the honour paid to images, passes to the
archetypes, or things represented, and he who reveres the image reveres the
person it represents. This the council declared to be the doctrine of the
fathers, and tradition of the Catholic church. [back]
Note
2. Chrysos. Hom. 3. de Ozia, t. 6. p. 14. ed.
Ben. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler
(1711–73). Volume I: January. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints – Saint Tarasius
Tarasius was born at
Constantinople about the middle of the eighth century, of a noble family. His
mother, Eucratia, brought him up in the practice of the most eminent virtues.
By his talents and virtue he gained the esteem of all, and was raised to the
greatest honors of the empire, being made consul, and afterward first secretary
of state to the Emperor Constantine and the Empress Irene, his mother. In the
midst of the court, and in its highest honors, he led a life like that of a
religious man. Paul, Patriarch of Constantinople, the third of that name,
though he had conformed in some respects to the then reigning heresy, had
several good qualities; and was not only beloved by the people for his charity
to the poor, but highly esteemed by the whole court for his great prudence.
Touched with remorse, he quitted the patriarchal see, and put on a religious
habit in the monastery of Florus, in Constantinople. Tarasius was chosen to
succeed him b} the unanimous consent of the court, clergy, and people. Finding
it in vain to oppose his election, he declared that he could not in conscience
accept of the government of a see which had been cut off from the Catholic
communion, except on condition that a general council should be called to
compose the disputes which divided the Church at that time in relation to holy
images. This being agreed to, he was solemnly declared patriarch, and
consecrated soon after, on Christmas day. The council was opened on the 1st of
August, in the church of the Apostles at Constantinople, in 786. But being
disturbed by the violences of the Iconoclasts, it adjourned and met again the
year following in the church of Saint Sophia, at Nice. The council having
declared the sense of the Church, in relation to the matter in debate, which
was found to be the allowing to holy pictures and images a relative honor, was
closed with the usual acclamations and prayers for the prosperity of the
Emperor and Empress. After which, synodal letters were sent to all the
churches, and in particular to the Pope, who approved the council. The life of
this holy patriarch was a model of perfection to his clergy and people. His
table contained barely the necessaries of life, he allowed himself very little
time for sleep, being always up the first and last in his family. Reading and
prayer filled all his leisure hours. The Emperor having become enamoured of
Theodota, a maid of honor to his wife, the Empress Mary, was resolved to
divorce the latter. He used all his efforts to gain the patriarch over to his
desires, but Saint Tarasius resolutely refused to countenance the iniquity. The
holy man gave up his soul to God in peace, on the 25th of February, 806, after
having sat twenty-one years and two months.
Reflection – The highest
praise which Scripture pronounces on the holy man Job is comprised in these
words, “He was simple and upright.”
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/pictorial-lives-of-the-saints-saint-tarasius/
Saint Tarasius,
Archbishop of Constantinople
Commemorated on February 25
Saint Tarasius, Patriarch
of Constantinople was of illustrious lineage. He was born and raised in
Constantinople, where he received a fine education. He was rapidly promoted at
the court of the emperor Constantine VI Porphyrogenitos (780-797) and Constantine’s
mother, the holy Empress Irene (August 7), and the saint attained the rank of
senator.
During these times the
Church was agitated by the turmoil of the Iconoclast disturbances. The holy
Patriarch Paul (August 30) although he had formerly supported Iconoclasm, later
repented and resigned his office. He withdrew to a monastery, where he took the
schema. When the holy Empress Irene and her son the emperor came to him, Saint
Paul told them that the most worthy successor to him would be Saint Tarasius (who
at this time was still a layman).
Tarasius refused for a
long time, not considering himself worthy of such high office, but he then gave
in to the common accord on the condition, that an Ecumenical Council be
convened to address the Iconoclast heresy.
Proceeding through all
the clerical ranks in a short while, Saint Tarasius was elevated to the
patriarchal throne in the year 784. In the year 787 the Seventh Ecumenical
Council was convened in the city of Nicea, with Patriarch Tarasius presiding,
and 367 bishops attending. The veneration of holy icons was confirmed at the
council. Those bishops who repented of their iconoclasm, were again received by
the Church.
Saint Tarasius wisely
governed the Church for twenty-two years. He led a strict ascetic life. He spent
all his money on God-pleasing ends, feeding and giving comfort to the aged, to
the impoverished, to widows and orphans, and on Holy Pascha he set out a meal
for them, and he served them himself.
The holy Patriarch
fearlessly denounced the emperor Constantine Porphyrigenitos when he slandered
his spouse, the empress Maria, the granddaughter of Saint Philaretos the
Merciful (December 1), so that he could send Maria to a monastery, thus freeing
him to marry his own kinswoman. Saint Tarasius resolutely refused to dissolve
the marriage of the emperor, for which the saint fell into disgrace. Soon,
however, Constantine was deposed by his own mother, the Empress Irene.
Saint Tarasius died in
the year 806. Before his death, devils examined his life from the time of his
youth, and they tried to get the saint to admit to sins that he had not
committed. “I am innocent of that of which you accuse me,” replied the saint,
“and you falsely slander me. You have no power over me at all.”
Mourned by the Church,
the saint was buried in a monastery he built on the Bosphorus. Many miracles
took place at his tomb.
SOURCE : https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/2015/02/25/100605-saint-tarasius-archbishop-of-constantinople
Святитель
Тарасий, архиепископ Константинопольский, патриарх. Фреска монастыря Дечаны,
Сербия.
Saint
Tarasius, Archbishop of Constantinople, Patriarch. Fresco of Decani monastery,
Serbia, circa 1350
San Tarasio Patriarca
di Costantinopoli
Festa: 18 febbraio
Costantinopoli, 730 - 806
Di famiglia patrizia, fu
capo della cancelleria imperiale. Venne scelto come successore di Paolo IV, e
una volta patriarca difese fermamente i valori cristiani e il matrimonio. Fondò
istituzioni benefiche, numerosi monasteri e salvaguardò il diritto d’asilo.
Oggi lo si ricorda come “difensore delle sacre immagini”.
Martirologio
Romano: A Costantinopoli, san Tarasio, vescovo, che, insigne per pietà e
dottrina, aprì il Concilio Niceno II, nel quale i Padri difesero il culto delle
sacre immagini.
Per noi che viviamo nella "civiltà delle immagini", così chiamata per la massiccia presenza degli strumenti audiovisivi, particolarmente il cinema e la televisione, potrà forse risultare stimolante il ricordo di un personaggio che per le "immagini" si battè strenuamente, anche se questa non fu la sua gloria principale e le immagini per le quali egli si batté erano ben più "sacre" di quelle proposteci dalla nostra società consumistica.
La polemica sul culto delle immagini, la cosiddetta lotta iconoclastica, ebbe tra i suoi protagonisti gli imperatori bizantini Leone III l'Isaurico, Costantino V Copronimo e Leone IV Khazaras da una parte, S. Giovanni Damasceno e i patriarchi Germano di Costantinopoli e Tarasio dall'altra. In realtà, accanto ad un conflitto ideale, che verteva sull'ortodossia, sulla legittimità del superamento cristiano della proscrizione giudaica di rappresentare Dio e il "mondo celeste", gli storici mettono in evidenza che vi erano in ballo anche questioni di carattere politico e addirittura economico: difensori costituiti delle immagini erano infatti i monaci, gli unici veri oppositori dello strapotere imperiale e potenti economicamente. Ma Tarasio, come dicevamo, vanta ancor altre glorie. Di famiglia nobile, fu rivestito della dignità di senatore e di capo della cancelleria imperiale.
Benchè fosse semplice laico, per designazione del defunto patriarca Paolo, venne scelto a raccogliere una difficile eredità, che accettò a condizione che l'imperatrice Irene e il senato s'impegnassero a consentire la convocazione di un concilio: solo così sarebbe stato possibile ristabilire l'ortodossia e la pace ecclesiastica. Ciò avvenne, non senza difficoltà, al concilio di Nicea del 787. Tarasio si mostrò inoltre integerrimo difensore della morale cristiana e in particolare del matrimonio, opponendosi con energia allo stesso imperatore Costantino VI, che pretendeva da lui la sentenza di divorzio per poter contrarre nuove nozze. Tarasio nutrì infine una fervida devozione alla SS. Vergine, che in una sua preghiera salutava così: "Salve, o mediatrice di tutto ciò che vi è sotto il cielo; salve, riparatrice di tutto l'universo; salve, o piena di grazia, il Signore è con te, lui che era prima di te ed è nato da te, per vivere con noi". S. Tarasio morì all'età di 76 anni nell'806 e venne sepolto nel santuario "Tutti i martiri" del monastero da lui fondato sul Bosforo.
Autore: Piero Bargellini
SOURCE : https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/42700
