CALLINICUS I OF CONSTANTINOPLE

“I will wall you up stone by stone, and you will never come out,” - sings Till Lindemann in one of his songs. This mysterious poetry, describing the tragedy of human relations, was literally fulfilled many centuries before in the fate of the Patriarch of Constantinople Saint Callinicus. “Beautiful warrior” - his name is translated from Greek. Despite his name, he was not a warrior and suffered much from the powers that be.

1 September 5, the Church honors the memory of the Patriarch of Constantinople Callinicus the First. He was Patriarch from 693 to 705. Before his patriarchate, he was a priest in the Church of the Theotokos in Blachernae. If we draw parallels with the current times in the Russian Church, then perhaps the temple complex in the Blachernae district of Constantinople can be compared to the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and the Hagia Sophia Cathedral - the seat of the Patriarchs of the byzantine capital - with the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow.

2 Although the appointment of bishops and patriarchs from among monastics was becoming increasingly frequent by the time of Callinicus, the ancient canonical practice of incompatibility of monasticism and episcopacy continued to exist. Bishops were chosen from clergy, laymen, or even catechumens. Another ancient canonical rule according to which the patriarch could not be elected from among the bishops was also immutable. According to the rules of the Ecumenical Councils, moving from one diocese to another was prohibited. So, in 693 Callinicus became Patriarch.

3 Our liturgical calendar contains many names of the holy Patriarchs of Constantinople. However, almost all of them, except for John Chrysostom (+407), seem to have sunk into oblivion, and, unfortunately, are no longer revered in popular piety. At the same time, if in the popular consciousness the patriarchate, especially in Constantinople, was almost always identified with splendor, honor and glory, among the patriarchs who were later canonized by the Church, there were many confessors and even martyrs.

4 It is important to note that the canonical title of “archbishop” or “patriarch” was assigned to the Constantinople hierarchs only in 451. Therefore, both Gregory of Nazianzus, called “the Theologian” in the Orthodox tradition, and John Chrysostom (347-407) were bishops of New Rome, as Constantinople was truly called, but they were not patriarchs. At the same time, the title of “bishop of Constantinople” of St. Gregory is rather an honorary title. After all, formally he simply preached in Constantinople, and was unable to receive an appointment to this see from his fellow bishops. Moreover, before the Council of Chalcedon, the Bishop of Constantinople was formally subordinate to the neighboring metropolitan.

5 John Chrysostom was expelled from his episcopal see twice. John was persecuted by another, the real, as he himself considered, “Patriarch of Patriarchs”, Bishop Theophilus of Alexandria. By order of Theophilus, John was martyred in exile. Another bishop of New Rome, Saint Flavian, was actually killed during the Ecumenical Council in Ephesus in 449 for his disagreement with the majority. This council was subsequently rejected by the Church and recognized as “latrocinium”, that is, false or “robber”.

6 Recalling the title of a Metallica song, Callinicus was such a the “harvester of sorrow”. The era of his episcopacy was the time when the Eastern Roman Empire forever lost its former territories: North Africa, Egypt, Palestine and Syria. Arab conquerors had already tried to take Constantinople, and the previously invincible Christian Empire was threatened by the then seemingly invincible Arab Caliphate.

7 Whether by misunderstanding or by mistake, he came into conflict with Emperor Justinian II (+711). When Justinian, who had been deposed by Caesars Leontius and Tiberius III, returned to the throne, he ordered the patriarch to be blinded, after which he was exiled to Rome. But even there the ruler did not calm down and ordered him to be walled up in a wall. When the wall was opened 40 days later, Callinicus was still alive. But he lived only a few days and died of exhaustion and wounds. Probably, the Empire would have forgotten the suffering patriarch, but Heaven intervened in the destinies of the World and the Church. The Roman Bishop John VI (+705) received a command from the Apostles in a vision to place his relics in the Roman Church of the Holy Apostles. As if having received a supernatural assurance that in he had found his reliable companion in Heaven, John himself soon died as well.