Venerable Theophylact of Nicomedia (+842–845)
The Venerable Theophylact of Nicomedia (842–845) lived in Constantinople at the time when the heresy of the iconoclasts held sway. After the death of the Emperor Leo the Khazar (775–780) Constantine VI (780–797) ascended the throne, and the patriarch changed as well: Saint Paul (commemorated 30 August) gave up the hierarchal see (784). Saint Tarasius (commemorated 25 February), who was at that time the king’s first counsellor, was chosen as the new patriarch. At the request of Saint Tarasius the Seventh Ecumenical Council (787) was convened, which condemned the heresy of iconoclasm. A relatively peaceful time came for Orthodoxy. The monasteries filled again, and spiritual life revived.
Saint Theophylact, a faithful disciple of Saint Tarasius, withdrew with Saint Michael (commemorated 23 May), with the patriarch’s blessing, to a monastery on the shore of the Black Sea. For their God-pleasing deeds and unceasing prayer these devoted servants of Christ received from the Lord the gift of wonderworking: through their prayer the workers in the fields never lacked drinking water in the heat and drought of summer.
After they had lived in the monastery for a few years, the patriarch consecrated Saint Michael Bishop of Synnada and Saint Theophylact Bishop of Nicomedia.
In the rank of bishop Theophylact laboured tirelessly for his flock. He built churches, hospitals and shelters for the destitute, gave alms generously, protected orphans, widows and the infirm, and cared for lepers.
When the iconoclast Leo V the Armenian (813–820) ascended the imperial throne, the terrible heresy flared up with new force. Saint Nicephorus (commemorated 2 June), the successor of Saint Tarasius, who together with the bishops was urging the emperor not to break the peace of the Church, could not influence him. At the discussion Theophylact of Nicomedia fearlessly denounced the heretics and foretold that Leo the Armenian would soon die. For this he was exiled to the fortress of Strobilus (Asia Minor). Here the holy hierarch suffered for thirty years until his death; he reposed around 845.
After the restoration of the veneration of icons (843), in the time of Saint Theodora (commemorated 11 February) and her son Michael, the relics of the holy Bishop Theophylact were translated with honour to Nicomedia.
