Methodios I of Constantinople

Saint Methodius I
Late 14th-early 15th century icon illustrating the "Triumph of Orthodoxy" in 843. Methodius is depicted in the upper register, to the right of the icon, with Theodora and her son Michael to the left. (National Icon Collection 18, British Museum)
Patriarch of Constantinople Hegumen
Born	788 Syracuse, Theme of Sicily (modern-day Italy)
Died	847 Constantinople, Byzantine Empire (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey)
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church Roman Catholic Church
Feast	June 14[1]

Methodios I or Methodius I (Greek: Μεθόδιος Α΄; 788/800 – June 14, 847) was Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople from March 4, 843 to June 14, 847. He was born in Syracuse and died in Constantinople. His feast day is celebrated on June 14 in both the East and the West.

Born to wealthy parents, Methodios was sent as a young man to Constantinople to continue his education and hopefully attain an appointment at court. But instead he entered a monastery in Bithynia, eventually becoming abbot.^[2]

Under Emperor Leo V the Armenian (813–820) the Iconoclast persecution broke out for the second time. In 815 Methodios went to Rome, perhaps as an envoy of the deposed Patriarch Nikephorοs. Upon his return in 821 he was arrested and exiled as an iconodule by the Iconoclast regime of Emperor Michael II. In 828 Michael II, not long before his death, mitigated the persecution and proclaimed a general amnesty. Methodius returned to Constantinople.^[2]

Michael II was succeeded by his son, Theophilos, who followed his father's policies. Methodius was again arrested and imprisoned. He escaped and was hidden by friends. Seeing that Methodius was not to be overcome by punishment, the emperor tried to convince him by argument. The result of their discussion was that Methodius to some extent persuaded the emperor. At any rate towards the end of the reign the persecution was mitigated. Theophilus died in 842.^[2]

Soon after the death of the emperor, in 843, the influential minister Theoktistos convinced the Empress Mother Theodora, as regent for her two-year-old son Michael III, to permit the restoration of icons.^[3] He then deposed the iconoclast Patriarch John VII Grammatikos^[4] and secured the appointment of Methodios as his successor, bringing about the end of the iconoclast controversy.

A week after his appointment and after the Council of Constantinople (843), accompanied by Theodora, Michael, and Theoktistos, Methodios made a triumphal procession from the church of Blachernae to Hagia Sophia on March 11, 843, restoring the icons to the church. This heralded the restoration of Christian orthodoxy, and became a holiday in the Byzantine Church, celebrated every year on the First Sunday of Great Lent, and known as the "Triumph of Orthodoxy".^[5]

The final years of the saint passed peacefully, he toiled much, wisely guided the Church and his flock.^[6] Throughout his short patriarchate, Methodios tried to pursue a moderate line of accommodation with members of the clergy who were formerly iconoclasts.

Methodios was well-educated; engaged in both copying and writing of manuscripts. His individual works included polemica, hagiographical and liturgical works, sermons and poetry.^[6]

• Council of Constantinople (843)
• Theodora (wife of Theophilos)

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Methodius I". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

• The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, Oxford University Press, 1991.