Saint Mary Syncletica was a woman of Constantinople commemorated among the saints of August 11. Her epithet, Syncletica, denotes senatorial rank, marking her as a member of the city's governing class. The synaxarion preserves little of her life beyond the single event for which she is remembered: her healing through the Icon of the Savior Not-Made-by-Hands.
Her commemoration is placed in the reign of the Byzantine Emperor Tiberius II Constantine (578-582), which fixes her in the late sixth century at Constantinople. The Orthodox Church in America notes that only limited details concerning her survive.
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578-582Healing during the reign of TiberiusAccording to the synaxarion, Mary Syncletica was healed by the Icon of the Savior Not-Made-by-Hands, which is said to have appeared during the reign of the Emperor Tiberius II Constantine (578-582). This single recorded event is the basis of her commemoration.
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Identity and Rank
The name by which she is known, Mary Syncletica, joins the given name Mary to the epithet Syncletica, which signifies senatorial standing, that is, a woman of Senate rank. The designation identifies her with the aristocracy of Constantinople rather than describing a monastic office.
She is to be distinguished from the more widely known desert teacher Amma Syncletica of Alexandria; here Syncletica is a marker of social rank rather than a personal name. Beyond her rank and the account of her healing, the sources preserve no biographical particulars such as her parentage, family, or the date of her repose.
Historical Context
The Icon of the Savior Not-Made-by-Hands belongs to the tradition of acheiropoietos images, icons held to have been produced without human hands. The most celebrated of these, the Image of Edessa or Mandylion, was venerated as the first Christian icon and was later, in 944, brought from Edessa to Constantinople.
The emperor named in her commemoration, Tiberius II Constantine, ruled the Eastern Roman Empire from Constantinople between 578 and 582. He was remembered as generous and humane, and his short reign placed Mary Syncletica's healing within the late sixth century of the imperial capital.
