Saint Tarasius Patriarch of Constantinople

Tarasius was Patriarch of Constantinople from 784 to 806 and is best remembered for presiding over the Seventh Ecumenical Council, held at Nicaea in 787, which restored the veneration of the holy icons. Born and raised in Constantinople into a prominent family, he pursued a distinguished secular career in the imperial administration, attaining senatorial rank and serving as imperial secretary (asekretis) under Emperor Constantine VI and his mother, Empress Irene.

When the iconoclast patriarch Paul IV repented and withdrew to monastic life, he recommended the layman Tarasius as his successor. According to the tradition, Tarasius long declined the office, considering himself unworthy, and accepted only on the condition that an ecumenical council be convened to address the iconoclast heresy and that communion with Rome and the Eastern patriarchates be restored. Having been a layman, he was advanced rapidly through the clerical ranks and consecrated patriarch on December 25, 784.

Tarasius governed the Church for twenty-two years. The sources describe him as ascetic in his own life and generous toward others, distributing his wealth to feed and comfort the aged, the poor, widows, and orphans. He reposed on February 25, 806, and was buried in a monastery he had founded on the Bosphorus. The Orthodox Church commemorates him on February 25.