St. Tarasius

Tarasius is one of the unusual saints who pass from the center of imperial government into the center of ecclesiastical government without losing either humility or moral clarity. He was chief secretary at Constantinople and still a layman when church and court turned to him during the long exhaustion caused by iconoclasm. He accepted the patriarchate only on condition that the breach over holy images would be faced honestly in council, and that decision linked his name forever with the Second Council of Nicaea and the restoration of their lawful veneration. Yet Tarasius is more than a public figure. The man behind the office matters: his prayer, little sleep, simplicity of living, and generosity to the poor.

The later trial under Constantine VI gives the life another edge. When the emperor tried to force the Church into approving his adulterous marriage, Tarasius would not turn sacred office into a court instrument. He could move in politics because he understood politics, but he never let political necessity become his conscience. That is why the life holds together so well historically and spiritually.