Michael the Synkellos

Venerable Michael the Synkellos was a monk and priest of Jerusalem, a confessor of the veneration of holy icons. He died at Constantinople on 4 January 846. He was born around the year 760. He was an Arab by descent and a Greek Orthodox.

He held the office of synkellos, that is, close assistant to the patriarch, at the Patriarchate of Jerusalem (around 811-815) and at that of Constantinople (843-846). He was drawn into the disputes over the Filioque clause and over Byzantine iconoclasm, and because of them he was in prison between 815 and 843.

Nevertheless he wrote much: grammar, theology, hagiography, hymns and poetry. He wrote in Greek and made at least one translation from Arabic. Our Menaion data commemorates him on 17 and 18 December.