Methodios I of Constantinople
Patriarch of Constantinople
Feast: 14 June (not on the universal Roman calendar; kept in the Roman Martyrology or local calendars)
Who they were
Methodius, of a rich Sicilian family, came to Constantinople seeking a place at court but was persuaded by a monk to enter a monastery. In the second Iconoclast persecution he defended holy images, went to Rome to report the deposition of the patriarch, and suffered for his stand.
Made Patriarch of Constantinople in 842, he restored the images in the first 'Feast of Orthodoxy' and brought home the relics of his exiled predecessor Nicephorus. He died on 14 June 846 and is honoured as a saint by Catholics and Orthodox.
The miracles
He is named in the Roman Martyrology on 14 June; there was never a formal cause.
Why that counted as sanctity
A patriarch who restored the holy images.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), via New Advent - St. Methodius I
- Wikidata Q1256661 — dates, feast day and identifiers (CC0)
- English Wikipedia — Methodios I of Constantinople (CC BY-SA)
Checked against the sources listed on 21 September 2026. Corrections welcome.