Menas of Constantinople

Saint

Menas of Constantinople
Saint; Menas of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
Died	25 August 552
Venerated in	Eastern Orthodox Church; Roman Catholic Church
Feast	25 August
Controversy	Three-Chapter Controversy

Menas (also Minas; Ancient Greek: Μηνᾶς; died 25 August 552), considered a saint in the Calcedonian affirming church and by extension both the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Church of modern times, was born in Alexandria, and enters the records in high ecclesiastical office as presbyter and director of the Hospital of Sampson in Constantinople, where tradition has him linked to Saint Sampson directly, and in the healing of Justinian from the bubonic plague in 542.^[1] He was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople by the Byzantine emperor Justinian I on 13 March 536.^[2] Pope Agapetus I consecrated him to succeed Anthimus, who was condemned as a monophysite. This was the first time that a Roman Pope consecrated a Patriarch of Constantinople.

At some date very soon after his election he received the order (keleusis) from the Emperor, whose text is not preserved, but which instructed him to call a synodos endemousa to examine the case of Anthimus, which would be heard at a series of five sessions, beginning on 2 May and ending 4 June 536.^[3] This Synod condemned Anthimus, as noted in Novel XLII from Justinian, addressed directly to Menas.^[4] Within this same effort from Justinian to seal the growing rift between the Patriarch in Constantinople and that of Jerusalem, Menas later took a position against Origen, a crisis merging into the Three-Chapter Controversy, an attempt to condemn the writings of certain non-Chalcedonian figures. Menas' patriarchate represents the greatest extent of papal influence in Constantinople. Almost immediately after the events of 536, which may be viewed as a Chalcedonian victory over monophysites, the ordination of an independent network of alleged monophysite / self-professed miaphysite bishops claiming apostolic authority would begin, leading eventually to the formation of a separate non-Chalcedonian church, the still-existing Syrian Orthodox Church that would be in communion with other excommunicated sees of the same theological persuasion. Justinian and Menas' efforts for doctrinal Church unity would meet with failure.^[5]

It was during his patriarchate that emperor Justinian's church of Hagia Sophia, then the largest building in the world and the seat of the Patriarchs, was consecrated. Also, in 551 the Emperor compelled Menas to call what would be the Fifth Ecumenical Council, to reconcile the Western and Eastern Churches around the Three-Chapter Controversy, to be chaired ultimately by his successor Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople in 553.^[6]

He died peacefully in 552. His feast day in both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions is observed on August 25.

References

^ Tatiana Starodubcev, "Physician and miracle worker. The cult of Saint Sampson the Xenodochos and his images in eastern Orthodox medieval painting". Zograf, Vol. 2015, no. 39, pp. 25 – 46. https://doi.org/10.2298/ZOG1539025S
^ Fergus Miller, "Linguistic Co-existence in Constantinople: Greek and Latin (and Syriac) in the Acts of the Synod of 536 c.e", The Journal of Roman Studies, 11/2009, Volume 99. https://doi.org/10.3815/007543509789745287
^ Millar, F. (2008). Rome, Constantinople and the Near Eastern Church under Justinian: Two Synods of C.E. 536. Journal of Roman Studies, p. 71. doi:10.3815/007543508786239102
^ The Novels of Justinian. See https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/Anglica/Novellae_Scott.htm
^ Millar, F. (2008). Rome, Constantinople and the Near Eastern Church under Justinian: Two Synods of C.E. 536. Journal of Roman Studies, 98, p. 81. doi:10.3815/007543508786239102
^ Lieve van Hoof and Peter van Nuffelen, "The Historiography of Crisis: Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in mid-sixth-century Constantinople", The Journal of Roman Studies, Volume 107 , November 2017 , pp. 275 - 300 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0075435817000284

External links

Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Mennas" . Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
[1]

Titles of Chalcedonian Christianity
Preceded by Anthimus I	Patriarch of Constantinople 536–552	Succeeded by Eutychius

[1] Tatiana Starodubcev, "Physician and miracle worker. The cult of Saint Sampson the Xenodochos and his images in eastern Orthodox medieval painting". Zograf, Vol. 2015, no. 39, pp. 25 – 46. https://doi.org/10.2298/ZOG1539025S

[2] Fergus Miller, "Linguistic Co-existence in Constantinople: Greek and Latin (and Syriac) in the Acts of the Synod of 536 c.e", The Journal of Roman Studies, 11/2009, Volume 99. https://doi.org/10.3815/007543509789745287

[3] Millar, F. (2008). Rome, Constantinople and the Near Eastern Church under Justinian: Two Synods of C.E. 536. Journal of Roman Studies, p. 71. doi:10.3815/007543508786239102

[4] The Novels of Justinian. See https://droitromain.univ-grenoble-alpes.fr/Anglica/Novellae_Scott.htm

[5] Millar, F. (2008). Rome, Constantinople and the Near Eastern Church under Justinian: Two Synods of C.E. 536. Journal of Roman Studies, 98, p. 81. doi:10.3815/007543508786239102

[6] Lieve van Hoof and Peter van Nuffelen, "The Historiography of Crisis: Jordanes, Cassiodorus and Justinian in mid-sixth-century Constantinople", The Journal of Roman Studies, Volume 107 , November 2017 , pp. 275 - 300 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0075435817000284

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v t e Bishops of Byzantium and Patriarchs of Constantinople
Bishops of Byzantium (Roman period, 38–330 AD)	Andrew Stachys Onesimus Polycarpus I Plutarch Sedecion Diogenes Eleutherius Felix Polycarpus II Athenodorus Euzois Laurence Alypius Pertinax Olympianus Marcus I Philadelphus Cyriacus I Castinus Eugenius I Titus Dometius Rufinus Probus Metrophanes Alexander
Archbishops of Constantinople (Roman period, 330–451 AD)	Alexander Paul I Eusebius Macedonius I Eudoxius Evagrius Demophilus Maximus I Gregory I Nectarius John I Chrysostom Arsacius Atticus Sisinnius I Nestorius Maximianus Proclus Flavian Anatolius
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Byzantine period, 451–1453 AD)	Anatolius Gennadius I Acacius Fravitta Euphemius Macedonius II Timothy I John II Epiphanius Anthimus I Menas Eutychius John III John IV Cyriacus II Thomas I Sergius I Pyrrhus Paul II Peter Thomas II John V Constantine I Theodore I George I Paul III Callinicus I Cyrus John VI Germanus I Anastasius Constantine II Nicetas I Paul IV Tarasius Nicephorus I Theodotus I Antony I John VII Methodius I Ignatios Photios I Stephen I Antony II Nicholas I Εuthymius I Stephen II Tryphon Theophylact Polyeuctus Βasil I Αntony III Nicholas II Sisinnius II Sergius II Eustathius Alexius Michael I Constantine III John VIII Cosmas I Eustratius Nicholas III John IX Leo Michael II Cosmas II Nicholas IV Theodotus II Neophytus I Constantine IV Luke Michael III Chariton Theodosius I Basil II Nicetas II Leontius Dositheus George II John X Michael IV^† Theodore II^† Maximus II^† Μanuel I^† Germanus II^† Methodius II^† Manuel II^† Arsenius^† Nicephorus II^† Germanus III Joseph I John XI Gregory II Athanasius I John XII Nephon I John XIII Gerasimus I Isaias John XIV Isidore I Callistus I Philotheus Macarius Nilus Antony IV Callistus II Matthew I Euthymius II Joseph II Metrophanes II Gregory III Athanasius II
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Ottoman period, 1453–1923 AD)	Gennadius II Isidore II Joasaph I Sophronius I Mark II Symeon I Dionysius I Raphael I Maximus III Nephon II Maximus IV Joachim I Pachomius I Theoleptus I Jeremias I Joannicius I Dionysius II Joasaph II Metrophanes III Jeremias II Pachomius II Theoleptus II Matthew II Gabriel I Theophanes I Meletius I Neophytus II Raphael II Cyril I Timothy II Gregory IV Anthimus II Cyril II Athanasius III Neophytus III Parthenius I Parthenius II Joannicius II Cyril III Paisius I Parthenius III Gabriel II Parthenius IV Dionysius III Clement Methodius III Dionysius IV Gerasimus II Athanasius IV James Callinicus II Neophytus IV Gabriel III Neophytus V Cyprianus Athanasius V Cyril IV Cosmas III Jeremias III (Callinicus III) Paisius II Seraphim I Neophytus VI Cyril V Callinicus IV (III) Seraphim II Joannicius III Samuel Meletius II Theodosius II Sophronius II Gabriel IV Procopius Neophytus VII Gerasimus III Gregory V Callinicus V (IV) Jeremias IV Cyril VI Eugenius II Anthimus III Chrysanthus Agathangelus Constantius I Constantius II Gregory VI Anthimus IV Anthimus V Germanus IV Meletius III Anthimus VI Cyril VII Joachim II Sophronius III Joachim III Joachim IV Dionysius V Neophytus VIII Anthimus VII Constantine V Germanus V Meletius IV
Patriarchs of Constantinople (Turkish period, since 1923 AD)	Gregory VII Constantine VI Basil III Photius II Benjamin Maximus V Athenagoras Demetrius Bartholomew
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