April 25th Calendar: Who is celebrating today?

Today, Thursday, April 25, in accordance with calendar of 2024 his memory is honored Agios Makedonios II Patriarch of Constantinople and her Agia Niki’s martyr.

Todayin accordance with calendarhe’s got feast the:

* There are other dates that this name has a holiday.

Saint Makedonios II Patriarch of Constantinople

Macedonius II was Patriarch of Constantinople from 496 to 511.

He was the nephew of Patriarch Gennadiou, by whom he was raised. He was then elder and custodian of the temple of Agia Sophia.

He was elected under unusual circumstances, since his predecessor, Euphimius, was effectively deposed by Emperor Anastasius. Euphemias asked Macedonia, which seems to have been in the Emperor’s favor, to ask for guarantees for his life. Indeed, Macedonius received these guarantees and met his predecessor before he left for his exile. It is reported that in this meeting Macedonius took off his shoulder blade, as a sign of respect for the deposed Euphemias, as well as that he gave him money for his needs.

Emperor Anastasios tried by all means to convince Macedonia to renounce the decisions of the 4th Ecumenical Council, which, however, were liked by the people. Within a year or two, Macedonius convened a Synod, which confirmed the decisions of the Fourth Ecumenical Council of Chalcedon. In this way, Macedonius attempted to reunite the already divided Church and to return to communion with the four most important monasteries of Constantinople, which had been separated due to the Unification of the Emperor Zeno.

The pressure from the Emperor continued, however, Macedonia refused to declare the Fourth Ecumenical Council without a new Ecumenical Council under the presidency of the Pope of Rome. Thus Anastasius gradually turned against the Macedonian. The Monophysite opponents of Macedonius began to cause incidents. They entered temples and disturbed services, accused him of being a pederast, although he was a eunuch, while someone named Eucholius or Ascholius attacked him with a knife. The Patriarch, however, was saved from the attack and behaved magnanimously towards his would-be murderer.

In 510, the efforts of Anastasius to dethrone Macedonian reached their peak. But he met the reaction of the people, who rebelled, and Anastasios was locked up in his Palace. He even prepared ships in case he needed to escape. Under these circumstances, Anastasios feigned remorse and called Macedonia to a meeting. It is unknown what was agreed between them, but in 511 Macedonius gave the Emperor a “Memorandum”, in which he confessed that he accepted the first two Ecumenical Councils, but was silent on the next ones. He was thus considered to accept Zeno’s “Enoticon”, so clergy and people were scandalized. Thus, when Macedonius went to the Monastery of the Dalmatians to officiate, the monks refused to officiate with him. The Macedonian there confessed in front of everyone that he accepts the 4th Ecumenical Council and anathemas its deniers, at which point the monks also agreed to co-celebrate. Anastasios then became enraged and asked Macedonia to hand over to him the original document of the decisions of the Fourth Ecumenical Council with the signatures of the bishops present, but Macedonia refused and hid the document in the Holy Bench of Hagia Sophia. Finally, a eunuch stole the document and delivered it to the Emperor, who exiled Patriarch Macedonius to Euchaeta in Pontus and pressured the bishops to depose him.

Thus, in 511, Timotheus was elected as his successor. In 515, Pope Hormisdas tried unsuccessfully to restore the Macedonian to his throne. In the same year, the Huns invaded Cappadocia, Gaul and Pontus, plundering everything. The Macedonian was afraid and fled to Gangra. He died there around 517. He emerged as a true bishop, a defender of Orthodoxy and the Church against imperial arbitrariness, and the Orthodox Church honors his memory on April 25.

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