St Thomas of Constantinople (+610)

Saint Thomas of Constantinople was chosen Patriarch of Constantinople in 607, after the death of the holy Patriarch Cyriacus.

During Saint Thomas’s patriarchate a terrible sign occurred in Galatia (Asia Minor): during a festal procession with litanies the heavy crosses began to sway, strike against one another and break. At the patriarch’s request Saint Theodore of Sykeon (commemorated 22 April) explained what had happened. According to him, misfortune awaited the Church, and the land faced invasion and devastation by barbarians. Shaken by this prophecy, the patriarch asked the Venerable Theodore to entreat the Lord for his soul, that he might stand before God before the sign was fulfilled.

After the death of Saint Thomas (+610) the unity of the Church was broken. The saint’s successor, Patriarch Sergius (610–638), fell into the Monothelite heresy. Soon, by God’s permission, because of the spread of the heresy, war broke out between Byzantium and Persia. The Greek lands of Asia Minor were utterly laid waste, Jerusalem fell, and the lawless carried off the life-giving Cross of the Lord to Persia. So all the calamities shown by the miracle during the procession came to pass.