Saint Photius the Great – Lithograph – Mount Athos

Description

Saint Photius of Constantinople: Life

Saint Photius was born in 810 AD in Constantinople. His family was pious and prominent. His parents were Saint Sergius and Irene, who were persecuted during the reign of the iconoclast emperor Theophilus (829-842 AD).

The holy Photius was distinguished for his immense education and the sanctity of his life. Initially, he excelled in the highest political positions. In 858 AD, when Patriarch Ignatius was violently removed from the patriarchal throne by the emperor’s order, Photius ascended to the throne.

Through synodal letters, where he emphasized the restoration of peace in the Church of Constantinople, he announced his election, as customary, to the Patriarchs of the East. However, a rift occurred between the extreme political factions and the supporters of Patriarch Ignatius, known as the “Ignatians.” The Ignatians gathered in the Church of St. Irene, excommunicated Saint Photius, and re-elected Ignatius as Patriarch.

Saint Photius then convened a synod in the Church of the Apostles. The Synod condemned the actions of the Ignatians as unlawful. It decided that Ignatius, having resigned from the throne, was no longer Patriarch and that if he sought to return to the throne, he would automatically face the penalty of deposition and excommunication.

The great father of the Church, Photius, struggled for the revival of the missionary consciousness of the Orthodox. He fought great and successful battles for the Orthodox faith against the Manichaeans, the Iconoclasts, and other heretics. He even succeeded in bringing many of them back into the fold of the faith.

He passed away on February 6, 891 AD, while in exile at the Monastery of the Armenians in Comana of Pontus. The Church has called him “the Great” and commemorates his memory on the day of his earthly death.

Lithograph of Saint Photius the Great

Using a lithographed copy of Byzantine art, the gifted iconographer created this work following the traditional method of artificial aging, as taught to him on Mount Athos. In the four corners, the icon is embellished with a gold finish, among the carvings of artificial aging.

Origin: Mount Athos