TARASIO, patriarch of COSTANTINOPOLI, saint. - Born c. 730, died in 806. Son of the civil prefect of Costantinopoli, he became head of the imperial Chancery (proto a secretis) under the empress Irene, who influenced his election to the patriarchal dignity in 784.
Pope Adriano I, to whom the newly elected patriarch addressed a letter accompanied by his profession of faith, did not annul this election, although he reproached its insufficiently canonical manner. The times of iconoclasm counselled leniency toward the iconophile Empress and her protégé. Indeed, the new patriarch earned merit above all at the Second Council of Nicca (the Seventh Ecumenical Council), which defined the veneration of sacred images as orthodox. His decrees against simony were likewise salutary. Only in the matter of the marriage of Emperor Costantino VI to Teodota, cousin of St. Teodoro di Studio, did he initially show himself insufficiently resolute, so that the Studites and other zealous persons were dissatisfied with him. But after the patriarch deposed the priest Giuseppe, who had blessed the Emperor’s sacrilegious marriage, he won the praise even of his adversaries.
T. gave an excellent example of Christian charity through the foundation of a hospital and homes for the poor. The Byzantine and Roman Churches venerate T. as a saint; feast day 18 February.