Thomas I of Constantinople

Saint Thomas I of Constantinople was Ecumenical Patriarch from 607 to 610. His ministry was short, in a time of turmoil for the Eastern Roman Empire. The Church remembers him above all for his prayer to be taken to the Lord before he should see the disasters that threatened the Church and the empire. His feast is on 21 March, which is 3 April in the new calendar.

Early life

His date of birth is not known. He lived in the days of the emperors Maurice and Phocas. He was ordained deacon, and Patriarch John IV the Faster (582 to 595), who had noticed his piety and zeal, made him sakellarios, keeper of the treasury, of the Great Church, Hagia Sophia.

Patriarch of Constantinople

After the death of Patriarch Cyriacus, the throne was vacant for some months. Then Thomas was elected patriarch in 607 with the help of the much disputed Emperor Phocas. The sources do not agree on the day: by the more likely account he was elected on 23 January 607, by another on 11 October of the same year. According to one source, at the urging of Pope Boniface III, Phocas forced him to give up the title ecumenical.

He is said to have cared in every way for the spiritual needs of his flock. In his time a new wing was added to the patriarchal building beside Hagia Sophia, with a reception hall named after him, the Thomaites triclinium, used later at imperial coronations, where the patriarchal library was also housed.

The sign of the crosses

The Life of Saint Theodore of Sykeon, written by his disciple George in the seventh century, tells of a sign from his time. In a procession in Galatia, the great crosses that were being carried began to sway of their own accord and strike against one another. Saint Theodore, known for the gift of foresight, explained that discord, wars and devastation would come upon the Church and the empire. Patriarch Thomas, terrified, asked Theodore to pray that God take him before this came to pass. The account says that the patriarch died that very day or soon after. This is a tradition from a saint's life, not a chronicle of his ministry.

Thomas passed to the Lord on 20 March 610 and was buried a day later. After his death came Patriarch Sergius, the war with Persia, the capture of Jerusalem by Khosrow II and the carrying off of the Holy Cross to Persia, events that his Life takes as the fulfilment of the sign.

Veneration

The Orthodox Church honours him as a saint on 21 March, and the churches that follow the new calendar on 3 April.