On this day, June 2 according to the Julian Calendar (June 15 civil calendar), the Georgian Orthodox Church commemorates Saint Nikephoros the Confessor, Archbishop of Constantinople (+828).
Saint Nikephoros the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople (+828), was born in the second half of the eighth century. For the sake of confessing the faith, his parents endured much persecution and oppression from the iconoclast emperor Constantine Copronymus (740–775). Saint Nikephoros received a fine secular education, but above all he studied the Holy Scriptures most deeply, and he greatly loved the reading of spiritual books.
During the reign of Leo IV (775–780), Nikephoros became a counselor to the emperor. While serving at the imperial court, he continued to live temperately and piously, preserved the Orthodox faith inviolate, and zealously defended the veneration of icons. In 787, after the death of Leo IV, during the reign of Constantine VI (780–797) and his mother Saint Irene, the Seventh Ecumenical Council was held in Nicaea, which condemned the heresy of iconoclasm. The deeply learned Nikephoros appeared at the council in the name of the emperor and defended Orthodoxy.
After this, Nikephoros remained at the imperial court for several more years, but the life filled with vanity became ever more unbearable for him. At last, filled with the love of God, he withdrew from the service of the powerful of this world and retired to the shores of the Bosphorus, where he passed his days in silence, fasting, and prayer. Through his labors several churches were built and a monastery was founded.
During the reign of Emperor Nikephoros I (802–811), after the repose of the holy patriarch (784–806), Saint Nikephoros was chosen as the steward of the Church. He was first tonsured a monk, then ordained a priest, and finally, on April 12, 806, on the bright feast of Pascha, he was enthroned on the patriarchal throne.
During the reign of the iconoclast Emperor Leo V the Armenian (813–820), persecution of Christians began anew. The emperor summoned from exile the bishops and clergy who had been deposed by the Seventh Ecumenical Council, convened a heretical council with them, and called the patriarch to debate matters of faith. Saint Nikephoros refused to dispute with the heretics, for the heresy of the iconoclasts had already been condemned by anathema. Nikephoros was first sent to the Chrysopolis monastery, then exiled to the island of Prokonnesos in the Sea of Marmara, where, thirteen years later, he reposed in affliction and oppression.
On March 13, 847, the incorrupt relics of the holy patriarch were solemnly translated to Constantinople and placed in the Church of Holy Wisdom.
May the intercessions of Saint Nikephoros the Confessor be with us all.