My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
On the 6th of February, Our Holy Orthodox Church Commemorates
the Great and Most Resplendent Father and Patriarch of
Constantinople, Saint PHOTIOS.
Apolytikion (Dismissal) Hymn. Fourth Tone
SINCE thou wast of like way with the Apostles, and a teacher of the
world, O Photius, entreat the Master of all, that peace be granted
unto the world and great mercy on our souls.
Kontakion Hymn. Plagal of Fourth Tone
LET that resplendent and far-shining star of Christ God’s Church, let
that divinely-given guide of all the Orthodox, be now crowned with
comely garlands of songs and praises; the Good Comforter’s
divinely-sounding harp of truth and the steadfast adversary of all
heresy: Let us cry to him: Rejoice, O Photios Most Venerable.
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Saint Photios, our holy and God-bearing Father, of holy fame, was born in Constantinople around the year 820 A.D. to affluent, distinguished, and God-fearing parents. Sergios was attached to the Imperial Court, as "Guardian of the Emperor and the Palace," that is, the Office of Spatharios. Sergios’ brother was Saint Tarasios, the Patriarch of Constantinople (784-787 A.D.), commemorated by our Holy Church on the 25th of February. Patriarch Tarasius presided over the Seventh Ecumenical Synod (Council) in 787 A.D. It was at this Synod that the Orthodox VENERATION OF HOLY ICONS WAS CONFIRMED AND THE ICONOCLASTIC (ICON-BREAKING) HERESY WAS CONDEMNED. Saint Photios’ mother, the pious and virtuous Irene, often received monks into her home, sought their holy prayers, and gave them alms.
Though Photios was a lover of knowledge, yet it is important to note that, for him, there was hierarchy of truth and knowledge, which placed the knowledge of God in a place of primacy. Saint Photios knew that the Holy Scripture was the chief tool in the struggle against evil. Saint Photios was adorned with gentleness, modesty of spirit, and love for neighbor.
Emperor Michael III on the 13th day of March, in the year 856 A.D. having attained to an age of discretion, turned the government over to his uncle Bardas and elevated him to the supreme rank of Caesar. Over the years Bardas had become the main regulator of political affairs. Bardas sought to have his sister and nieces tonsured nuns but Patriarch Ignatios refused to tonsure the dowager Empress Theodora and her daughters, declaring that it was against the canons to drive women into monasteries. This and other matters created a breach between Bardas and Patriarch Ignatios. Eventually Bardas deposed Patriarch Ignatios and the Patriarchal throne was vacant for a year. Now, the cunning Bardas found a solution–or rather Providence intervened–that from the wrong he committed, good should arise. He recommended to the bishops the election of Professor Photios as Patriarch. Saint Photios was the most distinguished scholar of that time. He also had an admirable lineage. He was the nephew of Saint Tarasios, who presided over the 7th Ecumenical Synod, and, like Saint Tarasios, was head of the Imperial Chancery when he was appointed Patriarchs. Photios’ Orthodoxy was above suspicion, since both and his family had been persecuted by the iconoclasts.
The meek Photios, however, resolutely declined to accept the complex and demanding office of the Patriarchal throne. He never considered leaving his books and studies to enter the clergy. Saint Photios wrote a letter to Caesar Bardas, attempting to escape from the dignity that was to be imposed upon him, for the honors that Photios enjoyed at court were already a burden to him. He knew that once raised to the Episcopal Chair, he would be compelled to give up that peaceful life in which he enjoyed the truest delights of learning .
Pressed by the urgent need of the situation, the government and the bishops, Photios at last reluctantly obeyed and accepted the ordination. Photios had to be rushed through the stages of ordination. He was raised to the Apostolic, Ecumenical, and Patriarchal throne of Constantinople in the year 857 A.D.
The many struggles that this thrice-blessed one undertook for the Orthodox Faith against the Manicheans, the Iconoclasts, and other heretic, and teh attacks and assaults that he endured from Nicholas I, the haughty and ambitious Pope of Rome, and the great persecutions and distresses he suffered, are beyond number. Contending against the Latin heresy of the FILIOQUE, that is, THE DOCTRINE THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT PROCEEDS FROM BOTH THE FATHER AND THE SON, HE DEMONSTRATED CLEARLY WITH HIS MYSTAGOGY ON THE HOLY SPIRIT HOW THE FILIOQUE DESTROYS THE UNITY AND EQUALITY OF THE TRINITY. He has left us many theological writings, panegyric homilies, and epistles, including one to Boris, the Sovereign of Bulgaria, in which he set forth for him the history and teachings of the Seven Ecumenical Synods. Having tended the Church of Christ in holiness and in an evangelical manner, and with fervent zeal and having rooted out all the tares of alien teaching, he departed to the Lord in the Monastery of the Armenians on February 6, 891 A.D.
Through the prayers of Saint Photios the Great, the defender of Orthodoxy, the divinely sounding harp of the Spirit, and the illustrious teacher of the world, may the Lord have mercy on us and save us! Amen. [Source: The Great Synaxaristes of the Orthodox Church and the Great Horologion}
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"Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things1"
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 