ON SAINT THEOPHYLACT, CONFESSOR, METROPOLITAN OF NICOMEDIA
ABOUT THE YEAR 845.
HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.
Theophylact, Confessor, Metropolitan of Nicomedia (Saint)
[1] Nicomedia, the metropolis of Bithynia, illustrious both for the seat of the ancient Emperors and for the multitude of its glorious Martyrs, second to no city in the Eastern or Greek Church, also had in the time of the Iconoclasts its famous champions of the orthodox faith, He is venerated on March 8 in the Menologium, among whom the Greeks venerate on this day with great solemnity Saint Theophylact, Bishop of Nicomedia. About him the following is reported in the Menologium published by Canisius: "On the same day, that is, March 8: of our holy Father the Confessor Theophylact, Bishop of Nicomedia, who, having come from the regions of the East to Constantinople, refuted the heresy of those who were contriving the overthrow of the holy images with arguments and testimonies from the divine writings, so that by order of the heretical Emperor he was sent to the castle of Strimbelum, where, having spent thirty years in exile for the defense of the Catholic faith, he departed to the Lord." The printed Greek Menaea and the Greek Menaea: and the manuscript Synaxarium of the Claremontane College of the Society of Jesus in Paris, together with Maximus Cytheraeus, have a great and illustrious eulogy. Francis Combefis of the Order of Preachers produces another from the old Tilian codex, published by him in part 2 of the New Supplement to the Greek-Latin library of the ancient Fathers, page 1030 and following, which, leaving the former aside, we give here.
[2] Memorial of our holy Father Theophylact, Bishop of Nicomedia. educated by Saint Tarasius, This man, who clearly came from the East, arrived at Constantinople and became familiar with Tarasius, the great light of the Church, while the latter was still the chief secretary; and he was excellently educated by him. Since Tarasius was elevated to the See of Constantinople by divine suffrage and was created a divine Pontiff, at that time Michael of Synada and the admirable Theophylact took up the monastic life and were assigned by the great Tarasius to a monastery situated at the mouth of the Black Sea. he is made a monk, When their virtue had advanced and shone like a star, the great Tarasius, judging them worthy of the highest priesthood, sent Michael to Synada, while the blessed Theophylact was ordained Bishop of Nicomedia. then Bishop of Nicomedia, How many excellent deeds he performed, the facts themselves declare: the houses and hospitals he built, the protection he undertook for widows and orphans, and his immense almsgiving — to the extent that, filling a basin with warm water, he would wipe and wash with his own hand the blind, the lame, and those injured in limb.
was elevated to the See, and was created a divine Pontiff. At that time Michael of Synada and the admirable Theophylact took up the monastic life, and were assigned by the great Tarasius to a monastery situated at the mouth of the Black Sea. he is made a monk, When their virtue had advanced and shone like a star, the great Tarasius, judging them worthy of the highest priesthood, sent Michael to Synada, while the blessed Theophylact was ordained Bishop of Nicomedia. then Bishop of Nicomedia, How many excellent deeds he performed, the facts themselves declare: the houses and hospitals he built, the protection he undertook for widows and orphans, and his immense almsgiving — to the extent that, filling a basin with warm water, he would wipe and wash with his own hand the blind, the lame, and those injured in limb.
[3] When the great Tarasius had ceased to be among the living, summoned by Saint Nicephorus, and the most wise Nicephorus had become his successor, having discharged the Pontificate with every dignity for nineteen years, something lamentable occurred. For when Leo, hateful to Christ, took up the Empire and prepared himself for the abolition of images, before Leo the Armenian the great Nicephorus, summoning the Blessed Theophylact together with many other Bishops, approached the impious and apostate Emperor. And although they had prepared many remedies from the divine Scriptures themselves, he defends the veneration of images: the Emperor remained incurable and in the same state. Thereafter, while the others fell silent, the Blessed Theophylact alone said to him: "I know that you despise the patience and long-suffering of God. But evil destruction will come upon you suddenly, and calamity like a storm, and you will find no one to rescue you." Inflamed with anger at these words, the Emperor condemned all to exile, and banished the divine Nicephorus to the island of Thasos, the renowned Michael, Bishop of Synada, to Eudocias, and transported others to other places, while the blessed Theophylact was sent to Strobilum. When, therefore, this Blessed Confessor Theophylact had persevered there for thirty years and endured the hardships of exile, he is sent into exile. he departed to the Lord. Thus far from the manuscript Greek Menaea, Francis Combefis. A summary exists in the Greek Anthology for this day; another is reported in the manuscript Menologium of the Emperor Basil.
[4] We illustrated the Life of Saint Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, at February 25, and showed that he was ordained Patriarch on Christmas Day itself, December 25, in the fifth year of the Empire of Constantine and Irene, Indiction 8, at the end of the year of Christ 784; and that he died on February 25, Indiction 8, in the year of Christ 806. The Life of Saint Tarasius was written also by Ignatius his disciple, afterward, according to Suidas, Bishop of Nicaea, from which certain things reported at number 16 pertain to Saint Theophylact and are here repeated. "This same man, Tarasius, even though he was tossed in the midst of tumults, not only loved quiet and silence but also amply supplied them to others, drawing them away from the world and making them familiar to God, and making them children of virtue, as the parent and producer of this holy life and action. Moreover, faith in this matter is entirely established from the monastery built from the inheritance of those goods that by right of dowry returned to him from his father's property, in what monastery did he live as a monk? on the left side of the Thracian Bosporus. In which, having planted noble seedlings of trees partaking of reason, which were fattened by the streams of exercise and increased by the copious condiments of abstinence, he made them an agriculture of Christ, faithfully producing a thirtyfold, sixtyfold, and hundredfold fruit of virtues in holiness and justice. Of these, many were called by him to the pastoral dignity, and, as was fitting, they adorned the possession of the priesthood and were immovable pillars of the Catholic faith. Which indeed the dark flood of heresy demonstrated, against which, fighting bravely and enduring the cloud of many dangers, in persecutions and afflictions and sufferings in the open air, they scattered and dissolved it toward the splendor of the supernal light: in which they also made their Master known as an ever-shining Morning Star." And these things indeed afterward, namely in the Life of Saint Nicephorus, who succeeded Saint Tarasius, ordained on April 12, the great Sunday of holy Easter, in the said year 806. This Life was communicated to us by the above-praised Francis Combefis, and we publish it below at March 13. In it, at chapter 9, Saint Nicephorus introduces a copious and distinguished company of Bishops and monks, and how did he defend the veneration of images? amid a crowd of noblemen and magnates girded with drawn swords, before the Emperor Leo the Armenian, in whose presence they, animated by the freedom and constancy of Saint Nicephorus, proved the universal and ancient veneration of sacred images with many and solid arguments. But the Emperor Leo, rendered utterly furious and insane, openly expelled them from the doors, and banished the most valiant champions, who were willing, if their spirits be considered, into exile.
[5] Among these Bishops, the companion of Saint Theophylact both in the monastic life and in the proscription to exile was Saint Michael of Synada, Metropolitan in the province of Phrygia Salutaris, to whom the Greeks and Latins alike have consecrated the day of May 23, He had as companion Saint Michael, Bishop of Synada. about whom the eulogy in the Menaea concludes with these words: "The Saint, condemned to a long exile, preserving an unchangeable and unmoved spirit toward the sacred images, in the persecution moved from place to place, until he escaped to the most ample field of the heavenly region. Having therefore completed this illustrious course of life, adorned with a double crown, he was placed among the Bishops as a Bishop and among the Martyrs as a Martyr." These last words are said in the Odes in a similar turn of phrase also about Saint Theophylact; however, both are considered by the Greeks as Homologetes, that is, Confessors.
[6] In the printed Menaea and in the manuscript Synaxarium cited above and in Maximus Cytheraeus, certain things are read in a more amplified form, and besides the already mentioned Saint Michael of Synada, other Bishops who were introduced together before Leo the Armenian in defense of the sacred images are reported: Aemilianus from Cyzicus, Euthymius from Sardis, and before Leo the Armenian various other Saints: Joseph from Thessalonica, and Eudoxius summoned from Amorium. Of these, Saint Aemilianus is inscribed in the Greek and Latin calendars on August 8; Euthymius is venerated by the Greeks on December 26, about whom we treat below with the Roman Martyrology at March 11. Saint Joseph is venerated on July 15. He is treated on February 4 in the Life of Saint Nicholas the Studite, numbers 12 and 37, where he is said to have been buried in the church of the Studite monastery near his brother Saint Theodore the Studite. The name of Eudoxius, Bishop of Amorium, we have not yet found inscribed in the sacred calendars. Amorium was not long afterward besieged by the Arabs under the Emperor Theophilus, captured and destroyed, as was said above on March 6, on which day the 42 Martyrs are venerated, who were then led away from Amorium and killed in Syria for the faith of Christ. About the meeting of these holy Bishops with Leo the Armenian, Theosteristus, his disciple, treats in the Life of Saint Nicetas the Abbot, who was also then sent into exile; and, omitting Joseph of Thessalonica and Eudoxius of Amorium, adds Peter, Bishop of Nicaea, and Saint Theodore the Studite. He also reports the opinions of various speakers, among which Theophylact, Bishop of Nicomedia, said: "Christ is witness, whose image you see depicted before your eyes above all, that we abound in infinite testimonies by which we can confirm this; nor do we doubt, as you suspect. But these men have no ears to hear, and therefore we would avail them nothing: for we are attacked by power and authority."
[7] Baronius reports these same things at the year of Christ 814, but this meeting took place the following year and the Bishops were sent into exile by Leo the Armenian. He did not live under Leo the Isaurian. We marvel, however, at another mnemonic error of the same Baronius, who, instead of Leo the Armenian, under whom Theophylact confessed the faith of Christ in the ninth century, writes at the year of Christ 733 about Leo the Isaurian, Emperor, raging against the venerators of the holy images: "Several holy Bishops are found," he says, "seized by him for that reason and sent from their See into exile, and among others Theophylact, Bishop of Nicomedia, who, having gone to Constantinople, was sent on account of the Catholic faith into exile to the castle of Strobelum by the same Leo. The Greeks treat of him in the Menologium, celebrating his annual commemoration on the seventh day of March... Then too Michael, Metropolitan of Synada, undergoing the course of the same contest, driven from his Bishopric for the same reason, received from God the crown of confession." also reported elsewhere on March 7 From these things we gather that this is the same Theophylact who is inscribed on March 7 in the present Roman Martyrology under the name of Theophilus in these words: under the name of Theophilus: "At Nicomedia, Saint Theophilus the Bishop, who, expelled into exile for the veneration of the holy images, died there." Meanwhile Ferrarius in the General Catalogue of Saints not in the Roman Martyrology writes at March 8: "In Thrace, Saint Theophylact, Bishop of Nicomedia." On the same day he was added by Molanus to the Supplement of Usuard; and both of these follow the Greek tables which we have given.
[8] The place of exile of Saint Theophylact is called in the Anthology Trobilon, by Cytheraeus Strobylon, in the Menologium Strimbolum, by Baronius Strobelum, in the manuscript and printed Menaea Strobilon; and in these it is added An exile near the River Maeander in Caria that it is a "guardhouse or castle (so Cytheraeus writes it in Greek, kasteli) among the Cyberrheotae, situated at the sea." Strobilos means a pine cone or sometimes a pine, from whose likeness or shape the name could have been given to the place. According to Constantine Porphyrogenitus, cited by Ortelius, there is near the River Maeander in Asia in Caria a maritime region called Kibarrhaiotis, and a place called Strobelos, where the exile seems to have lived far from his Episcopal See and the city of Constantinople until his death. On July 22 is venerated Saint Theophylus the Martyr, Commander of the Cibyrrhaeotas, killed by the Saracens. thirty years, died around the year 845 The years spent there amid the hardships of exile are said both in the Menologium and in the manuscript and printed Menaea to have been altogether thirty, which are omitted in the new Anthology; and so he would have survived until about the year 845.
[9] Concerning the translation of his body, the following is added in the printed Menaea and in Cytheraeus: "After several years, when the heresy had been quelled and the Catholic faith was shining again, under the most devout Empress Theodora and with Methodius as Patriarch of Constantinople, the venerable body of our holy Father Theophylact was brought back from exile translated to Nicomedia and placed in the temple he had built at Nicomedia." The acts of the holy Empress Theodora, collected from various authors, we arranged and published at February 11, the day of her birth, and in section 8 we said that by the order of the same Saint Theodora the bodies of Saints Nicephorus the Patriarch and Theodore the Studite were brought back to Constantinople, the latter's in the year 844 or the following year, and Saint Nicephorus's in the year 847 on March 13, around the year 847
as we shall say more fully at that day. We believe the body of Saint Theophylact was also brought back to Nicomedia at the same time.
[10] Finally, in the Odes and Canticles related to this day in the Menaea, Saint Theophylact is frequently called Theophoros, concerning which name we treated at the Life of Saint Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch, He is called Theophorus, also surnamed Theophorus, on the very Kalends of February. In the same Odes, the zeal of Saint Theophylact is extolled for having attacked the heresy and promoted the veneration of the images of Christ the Redeemer and of the Virgin Mother of God; his patronage is invoked. and his patronage is implored against the snares of the devil and for the repelling of infirmities of soul and body.