Germanus I of Constantinople

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For other people with the same name, see Germanus (disambiguation).

Roman Catholicism
Feast12 May
Anastasios
Personal details
DenominationChalcedonian Christianity

Germanus I (

feast day of 12 May.[1] He had been ecumenically preceded by Patriarch John VI of Constantinople, and was succeeded in Orthodox Rite by Patriarch Constantine II of Constantinople.[2]

Life

According to

Mezezius. Constantine IV, son of Constans II, defeated his rival and punished the supporters of Mezezius. Germanus survived the persecutions, but was made a eunuch by the victors.[4]

Germanus was sent to a

Philippikos Bardanes.[5]

In 713, Philippikos Bardanes was deposed by

Theodosios III.[6]

In 715, Germanus organized a new council propagating

iconodule,[5] and played an important role in defending the use of sacred images during the iconoclastic crisis of his day. For his opposition to the emperor, who considered reverence for these images a form of idolatry, Germanus suffered exile.[7]

After an apparently successful attempt to enforce the

Jews and Montanists in the empire (722), Leo issued a series of edicts against the worship of images (726–729).[8] A letter by the patriarch Germanus written before 726 to two Iconoclast bishops says that "now whole towns and multitudes of people are in considerable agitation over this matter," but little evidence is extant as to the growth of the debate.[9]

Germanus either resigned or was deposed following the ban. Surviving letters Germanus wrote at the time say little of theology. According to Patricia Karlin-Hayter, what worried Germanus was that the ban of icons would prove that the Church had been in error for a long time and therefore play into the hands of Jews and Muslims.

Nacoleia, a leading Iconoclast. Pope Gregory II (term 715–731), a fellow iconodule, praised Germanus' "zeal and steadfastness".[5]

Germanus was replaced by

Chora Church. The Second Council of Nicaea (787) included Germanus in the diptychs of the saints. He has since been regarded a saint by both the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church
.

Several of his writings have been preserved.[5] His Historia Ecclesiastica was a popular work in Greek and Latin translations for many centuries, and remains often quoted by scholars. Parts of it were published in English in 1985 as On the Divine Liturgy, described by its publishers as "for centuries the quasi-official explanation of the Divine Liturgy for the Byzantine Christian world".[12] However, the church historian Johann Peter Kirsch was dubious that the work is actually by Germanus.[5]

Influence

Pope Pius XII included one of his texts in the apostolic constitution proclaiming Mary's assumption into heaven a dogma of the Church.[7]

Among his writings was the hymn "Μέγα καί παράδοξον θαῦμα" translated by John Mason Neale as "A Great and Mighty Wonder",[13][14] although Neale misattributed this to Anatolius of Constantinople.

See also

References

  1. ^ (in Greek) Ὁ Ἅγιος Γερμανὸς Πατριάρχης Κωνσταντινουπόλεως. 12 Μαΐου. ΜΕΓΑΣ ΣΥΝΑΞΑΡΙΣΤΗΣ.
  2. ^ "Ecumenical Patriarchs".
  3. ^ a b Orthodox Church in America: Biography of St Germanus the Patriarch of Constantinople
  4. ^ Mango, 1
  5. ^ a b c d e Kirsch, Johann Peter. "St. Germanus I." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 24 Jun. 2013
  6. ^ Bronwen Neil, "Anastasius II (A.D. 713-715)"
  7. ^ a b ""St. Germanus of Constantinople, Defender of the Veneration of Holy Images", National Catholic Register, 8 May 2009". Archived from the original on 11 September 2019. Retrieved 24 June 2013.
  8. ^ Treadgold. History of the Byzantine State, pp. 350, 352-353.
  9. ISBN 0-7044-0226-2
  10. ^ Karlin-Hayter, Patricia (2002) The Oxford History of Byzantium: Iconoclasm. Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ "St Germanus, Patriarch of Constantinople", Serbian Orthodox Church
  12. ISBN 978-0-88141-038-9
    ; see external links for a partly different online version.
  13. ^ The English Hymnal. London: Oxford University Press, 1907; no. 19, p. 30
  14. ^ "A great and mighty wonder". Cyberhymnal. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2011.

Sources

External links

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Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity
Preceded by
John VI
Patriarch of Constantinople

715–730 		Succeeded by
Anastasios
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