Saint Anthousa, Daughter of Emperor Constantine Copronymos, as a Model for our Lives

St. Anthousa (Feast Day - April 12)

By Protopresbyter Fr. George Papavarnavas

Saint Anthousa lived in the 8th century in Constantinople. She was the daughter of the Emperor Constantine Copronymos, whose name is connected with one of the darkest pages of politics, but also of ecclesiastical history, where he was always believed to be a persecutor and a warlord. Many believers were tortured during that period and many sealed the confession of their faith with the blood of their martyrdom.

Saint Anthousa grew up in the palace and could have all the amenities, but she chose to live ascetically. Her external appearance was like that of a princess, but underneath the glittering outer garments she wore a hairy garment to humble her body, that is, the "mind of the flesh", which is opposed to the "mind of the spirit", which is "life and peace". Her father wanted her to marry someone that was like-minded as him, but the Saint refused, since, after all, she wanted to dedicate herself completely to God. After the death of her father, she distributed her property to the poor and became a nun by the then Patriarch of Constantinople, Saint Tarasios.

Holy Emperor Theodosius the Great (St. Justin Popovich)

St. Theodosios the Great (Feast Day - January 17)

This very pious and glorious emperor ruled from the years 379-395. He was born in Spain. He was famous for his family, and famous for his heroism. He was first the military leader of Emperor Gratian, and then he was appointed emperor in 379.

Constantine the Great forbade the persecution of Christians, Theodosius the Great went one step further: he forbade idol sacrifices in his land. He also took care of the Orthodox faith against heretics. He expelled the Arian archbishop Demophilos from Constantinople and brought into the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople Saint Gregory the Theologian.

Saint Theophano the Empress Resource Page

St. Theophano the Empress (Feast Day - December 16)

Verses

Coming near to the Lord, Empress Theophano,

Your virtues remained polished.

 

Synaxarion of the Holy Empress Theophano 

 

Saint Theophano the Empress 

 

The Feast of All Saints Was Inspired By An Empress

 

The Incorrupt Relics of the Holy Empress Theophano at the Phanar

 

Euphemia, Theophano and Solomone

 

The Cross of Saint Theophano the Empress

 

 

Synaxarion of Saint Irene, Empress of the Romans, Founder of Pantocrator Monastery in Constantinople

 On the same day[August 13], we commemorate the renowned and most blessed empress and founder of the revered Monastery of the Pantocrator Savior Christ, Irene, who was renamed as the Nun Xene on taking the holy and angelic schema.

Verses

The Pantocrator gave you a Monastery above,
Having built Him the same Monastery below.

It was necessary that this most great and supreme city of Constantinople should not just take pride in the beauty of things given over to corruption, and take delight and rejoice in tales of men of old who are renowned for their virtue. Rather, it was right for her to boast of and be embellished by the celebrated empress and founder of the Pantocrator Monastery. On the one hand, since the things of old had faded with time, and their beauty was extinguished, they no longer served as sources of delight to their beholders. Not even if they had undergone restoration would they have been sufficient to delight the eye; they still looked neglected. For such were the beauty and brightness of the buildings raised from their very foundations by the celebrated empress, with the consent and approval of the mighty emperor, in glorification and thanks to the Pantocrator our God and Savior Jesus Christ who glorified them with coronation, that the city was dignified by them, and by the rays that they emitted, they illumined and brightened the buildings that grown old and faded with time. On the other hand, the empress, who had acquired all the virtues from childhood and was a receptacle of all good things – this is why she was joined in marriage to the God-crowned and Purple-born emperor – showing herself to be a veritable ornament, not only to the offspring of the imperial Porphyra raised as emperors, in that she was reckoned to be, as indeed she was, the one who set the seal on all the empresses before her, as well as a root of all good qualities and archetypal mould for those who came after her; she was also an adornment to the Queen of Cities.

The American Historian Who Testified to the Existence of the Grave of Emperor Constantine XI Palaiologos

Edwin Augustus Grosvenor was born in 1845 in West Newbury, Massachusetts. After graduating from Amherst College in 1867, he served as a tutor at Robert College in Constantinople, which was then under the Ottoman Empire. After returning to the U.S., he obtained an M.A. from Amherst College and was ordained as a minister in Newburyport in 1872. That same year, Edwin Grosvenor returned to Robert College with his new wife and began teaching. Grosvenor then taught at Amherst College from 1892 to 1914, and was professor emeritus until his death in 1936. Today the house where he lived in Amherst is a sorority house of the college that bears his name.

Grosvenor was called "one of the most cosmopolitan of Americans" by author and abolitionist Thomas Wentworth Higginson. His son, Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor, was the first employee and longtime editor of National Geographic Magazine, as well as the son-in-law of Alexander Graham Bell.

The Touch of Thomas and the Queen of Ioannina in Post-Byzantine Monumental Art

 

Meteora, skevophylakion of the Monastery of the Transfiguration (after 1382)

Eleni Evangelou's research work: "Women and Icons - The Case of Maria Angelina Doukaina Palaiologina, Queen of Ioannina (ca. 1349/50-1394)", is a special contribution to the chapter on women in the Palaeologian period and post-Byzantine art.

The third chapter of the work is titled: "Maria after Maria: the Touch of Thomas and the Queen of Ioannina in Post-Byzantine Monumental Art".

This chapter examines some post-Byzantine representations of the Touch of Thomas, which include the figure of Maria Palaiologina. These are frescoes dating from the 16th to the 18th century and adorn the churches of Ioannina, Thessaly and Macedonia.

The Cross of Saint Theophano the Empress

In the year 888, Empress Theophano, wife of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, had a monastery built in Halkidiki dedicated to Saint Anastasia the Pharmakolytria. 

 

To this Patriarchal and Stavropegic Monastery of Saint Anastasia she gave as gifts the sacred Skull and a portion of the right foot of Saint Anastasia, together with a Crucifix that contains a portion of the True Cross, the sceptre of Emperor Leo the VI the Wise, chrysobulls and other valuables. 

 

Unfortunately, the sceptre, the chrysobulls and other valuables were destroyed when the Turks set fire to the monastery in June of 1821. 

 

The Incorrupt Relics of the Holy Empress Theophano at the Phanar

 

The Holy Empress Theophano was the pious wife of Emperor Leo VI the Wise, who reposed at the age of 31 around the year 894 after she dedicated her life to God as a nun. Her husband considered her to be a Saint, and as a memorial to her he built the Church of Saint Theophano next to the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople, probably within a year after her death. When Theophano died, her body was likely placed in the Church of the Holy Apostles then transferred to the adjoining Church of Saint Theophano. However, certain bishops objected to Leo building a church dedicated to his wife, so Leo was forced to change the name of this church, which he then dedicated to All Saints, so as to still include his wife as one of many Saints that could be commemorated there. 

 

The Boldness of Saint Ambrose and the Piety of Emperor Theodosius the Great

By Theodoret
Ecclesiastical History, 5.17

 

Thessalonica is a large and very populous city, belonging to Macedonia, but the capital of Thessaly and Achaia, as well as of many other provinces which are governed by the prefect of Illyricum. Here arose a great sedition, and several of the magistrates were stoned and violently treated.

The emperor was fired with anger when he heard the news, and unable to endure the rush of his passion, did not even check its onset by the curb of reason, but allowed his rage to be the minister of his vengeance. When the imperial passion had received its authority, as though itself an independent prince, it broke the bonds and yoke of reason, unsheathed swords of injustice right and left without distinction, and slew innocent and guilty together. No trial preceded the sentence. No condemnation was passed on the perpetrators of the crimes. Multitudes were mowed down like ears of grain in harvest-tide. It is said that seven thousand perished.

Synaxis of the Andronikos Icon of the Mother of God

 

Synaxis of the Andronikos Icon of the Mother of God (Feast Day - October 22)

The Andronikos Icon of the Mother of God, also known as the Monemvasia Icon or the Greek Icon, was a family icon of the Roman Emperor Andronikos III Palaiologos. In 1347 he gave the icon to a monastery in Monemvasia of Peloponnesos. After an attack in 1821 by Turkish troops, the abbot of the monastery, Bishop Agapios, trying to save the miraculous Andronikos Icon, hid it in Patras. Before his death, Agapios bequeathed this icon to his relative, the Russian Consul General N.I. Vlassopoulos, whose son, A.N. Vlassopoulos, in 1839 sent the icon from Athens to Odessa with a letter for its transmission to Emperor Nicholas I Pavlovich in St. Petersburg. From 1839 to May 12, 1868, the Andronikos Icon was in the Winter Palace, and from May 12, 1868 to April 16, 1877 it was in the Trinity Cathedral, which is on the Petersburg side. In 1877, the miraculous icon was transferred to the Kazan women's monastery near the city of Vyshny Volochek of the Tver diocese. In 1984 the icon was stolen and its current whereabouts are unknown. Other feast days of this icon are May 1 and July 8.

 

Saint Ariadne, Empress of the Romans (+ 515)

St. Ariadne the Empress of the Romans (Feast Day - August 22);
the bust of Ariadne is at the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The Roman Empire had clashed with barbarians on the northern border for centuries, but lost this war during the reign of Emperor Valens (364-378). In the war with the Goths, Emperor Valens died on the battlefield and Rome was on the brink of collapse. Emperor Theodosius, who came to the throne in such a period, decided to be friends instead of fighting barbarians.

This policy was politically successful and brought prosperity. On the other hand, it led to the rise of foreign soldiers in the army, such as Goths, Vandals, Germans and Isaurians. For example, General Aspar of Germanic origin played a major role in the crowning of Emperor Leo I (457-474).

If it were possible, Aspar himself would have wanted to become an emperor. However, it was still not acceptable for a barbarian to come to the Roman throne at that time. However, this rule would change only one generation later. An Isaurian general who married the daughter of Emperor Leo changed his name to Zeno. He would be the first barbarian-born emperor in Roman history.

The Veneration of Emperor Nikephoros Phokas on the Island of Crete and His Cross in Cortona, Italy

Nikephoros II Phokas was Roman Emperor from 963 to 969. His brilliant military exploits contributed to the resurgence of the Roman Empire during the tenth century. His administrative policy was less successful, as in order to finance these wars he increased taxes both on the people and on the Church, while maintaining unpopular positions and alienating many of his most powerful allies. These included his nephew John Tzimiskes, who would take the throne after killing Nikephoros in his sleep on 11 December 969.

Nikephoros joined the army at an early age. He was appointed the military governor of the Anatolikon Theme in 945 under Emperor Constantine VII. In 954 or 955, Nikephoros replaced his father, Bardas Phokas, as Domestic of the Schools, who consistently and disastrously lost battle after battle both to the Hamdanids and to the Abbasids, essentially taking charge of the eastern Roman army. From 955, the Hamdanids in Aleppo entered a period of unbroken decline until their destruction in 1002. In June 957 Nikephoros managed to capture and destroy Hadath. The Romans would continue to push their advantage against the Arabs until the collapse of the Hamdanids, however, from 960-961, the army turned its focus to the reconquest of Crete.

Saint Maurice, Emperor of the Romans, With His Six Sons

On November 28th the Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Maurice, Roman Emperor from 582 to 602, together with his six sons, who were all executed together in 602.

Below is a history of the Saint of Syrian origin:

Saint Febronia, Daughter of Emperor Heraclius

St. Febronia, Daughter of Emperor Heraclius (Feast Day - October 28)

Verses

The Kingdom of Heaven Febronia,
You preferred over your inheritance as one who is shrewd.

Emperor Heraclius (610-641) had a daughter named Febronia by his second wife Martina, with whom they bore at least ten children. Febronia was likely named after the Holy Martyr Febronia of Nisibis, whose veneration spread to Constantinople in the seventh century, probably through Emperor Heraclius when in Mesopotamia, and in Constantinople she became known as a wonderworker with Saint Artemios. We know nothing about her life, though it seems she became a nun (at which time she may have received the name Febronia). She reposed in peace.

What Happened to the Letter of Christ to King Abgar of Edessa?

George Maniakes sends the letter of Christ to Emperor Romanos Argyros.

In 1032 Emperor Romanos III Argyros (1028-1034) received Christ's famous letter to King Abgar of Edessa from George Maniakes after he captured Edessa. It had been previously kept in Edessa for many centuries as its most precious relic that wondrously kept the city from harm and invasions, with eye-witness testimonies of its presence there as early as the fourth century. In Constantinople it was placed in the imperial palace, until it was stolen on September 12, 1185.

The reign of Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos was characterized by his harsh measures, which included massacring all the Latin inhabitants of the city, allowing the Roman Empire to descend into a terror state. In September 1185, he ordered the execution of all prisoners, exiles, and their families for collusion with the Norman invaders. The aristocrats in turn were infuriated against him, and there were several revolts. He resolved therefore to exterminate the aristocracy, and his plans were nearly successful. While absent from Constantinople, Isaac Angelos was proclaimed his successor, and Andronikos himself was deposed.

Empress Eudocia and the Apple of Discord

According to the Chronographia of the ecclesiastical historian John Malalas (c. 491-578), upon being named Augusta by her husband Emperor Theodosius II on 2 January 423, Eudocia succeeded her sister-in-law, Pulcheria, who had been Augusta since 414.

The relationship between the two women consisted of rivalry over power. Eudocia was jealous over the amount of power Pulcheria had within the court, while Pulcheria was jealous of the power Eudocia could claim from her. Their relationship created a "pious atmosphere" in the imperial court, and probably explains why Eudocia traveled to the Holy Land in 438.

The Sainthood of Emperor Justinian I According to Saint Nikodemos the Hagiorite

By St. Nikodemos the Hagiorite

According to Meletios, on p. 86 of his 2nd volume,[1] Justinian died while in the heresy of Aphthartodocetism.[2] The renowned Dositheos of Jerusalem defended Justinian the Great by saying that he fell into the heresy of Aphthartodocetism out of ignorance (as it so happened with some other Saints), for in many and various ways he was recognized as being completely Orthodox. This is supported by Eustathios in his Life of Patriarch Eutychios, where he notes that Justinian, being disposed to inquire into the divine dogmas, night and day with syllogistic proofs and written testimonies defeated the heretics. It was on his behalf that Agapetos the Deacon gathered together the chapters.[3] And the Sixth Ecumenical Synod says regarding the Fifth Ecumenical Synod: "The Holy Synod which was under the revered memory of Justinian in Constantinople gathered together a fourth Act." It also says: "Response of Saint Justinian to Zoilos the Patriarch of Alexandria the tenth Act." And Pope Agatho in his account to Pogonatos,[5] praises Justinian for his great piety. The Patriarchs of the East also in their letter to Tarasios of Constantinople write: "Justinian the wise master, who in his reign was a Saint and blessed." Regarding the problem of Aphthartodocetism, Nikephoros says that Justinian, out of his eros and love towards Christ, said that he had a body without corruption (Dositheos does not engage this).