Germanus I of Constantinople

Germanus was born in Constantinople around 634, during the reign of Emperor Heraclius. His father, Justinianus, was a patrician who was executed in 668 for his involvement in the murder of Constans II and the usurpation of Mezezius. Germanus survived the persecutions, but was made a eunuch by the victors and sent to a monastery. He later became a cleric at the cathedral of Hagia Sophia and a theological consultant for the emperor. He took part in the 712 Council of Constantinople, where he was pressured to sign a decree in favor of Monothelitism, a heresy that denied the human will of Christ. He later repudiated this decree when he became the bishop of Cyzicus. He was elected as the patriarch of Constantinople in 715, under the orthodox emperor Anastasius II, and convened a local council that reaffirmed the orthodox doctrine of the two wills of Christ. He also tried to improve relations with the Armenian Church, which adhered to Monophysitism, another heresy that denied the human nature of Christ. He composed a tract explaining the orthodox teaching of the two natures of Christ and directed it to the Armenians, but he failed to convert them. He also instituted a liturgical service of thanksgiving to the Virgin Mary for the deliverance of Constantinople from the Persian siege of 626 and the Arab attack of 718. He wrote several works on Mariology, the theology of the Virgin Mary, and promoted her veneration. He is regarded as one of the most eminent Marian theologians of the Byzantine Church. The main challenge of his patriarchate, however, was the Iconoclastic Controversy, which erupted in 727 when Emperor Leo III the Isaurian issued a series of edicts against the worship of images, or icons, which he considered a form of idolatry. Germanus was an iconodule, a supporter of the veneration of icons, and he wrote several letters and treatises defending the use of sacred images and explaining their theological significance. He argued that icons were not idols, but representations of the incarnate Christ, the Virgin Mary, and the saints, and that they were worthy of honor and reverence, but not of worship, which belongs to God alone. He also appealed to the tradition of the Church, the authority of the fathers, and the miracles performed by the icons as proofs of their legitimacy. He faced strong opposition from the emperor and his iconoclast supporters, who accused him of heresy and idolatry. He was forced to resign his office in 730 and retire to his estates in Greece, where he died either in 733 or 740. He was condemned by the iconoclast council of 754, but vindicated by the seventh ecumenical council of 787, which restored the veneration of icons. He is honored as a saint by both the Orthodox and Catholic Churches, with a feast day of May 12.