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This divine Father, who was from Asia Minor, was from childhood reared in the royal court of Constantinople, where he was instructed in both religious and secular wisdom. Later, while still a youth, he left the imperial court and struggled in asceticism on Mount Athos, and in the Skete at Beroea. He spent some time in Thessalonica being treated for an illness that came from his harsh manner of life. He was present in Constantinople at the Council that was convened in 1341 against Barlaam of Calabria, and at the Council of 1347 against Acindynus, who was of like mind with Barlaam; Barlaam and Acindynus claimed that the grace of God is created.

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St. Basil says: ‘Let words of consolation leap forward before the rest of your speech, confirming your love for your neighbor.’ You who are in the monastery, when you approach your brother; you who are married, when you approach your spouse; you who are a father or a mother, when you approach your child: ‘let words of consolation leap forward before the rest of your speech.’ Whatever you say, whatever you think of saying, say it only after you have said a word or two which will give the others joy, consolation, a breath of life.

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“The Cross has dissolved hatred towards man, has brought reconciliation, has made the earth heaven, has mingled men with the angels, has conquered the bastion of death, has neutralized the strength of the devil, has dismissed the power of sin, has rid the earth of error, has restored the truth, has driven away the demons, has torn down pagan temples, has upset sacrificial altars, has dispelled the smell of burnt offerings, has planted virtue, has founded churches.” (Synaxarion, cf. Sacred Symbols that Speak, pg. 55.)

“The Cross is the proof of the love of God, the unshaken wall, the unconquered weapon, the security of the rich, the richness of the poor, the weapon of the threatened, the rebuke of the passions, the kingdom of virtue, the wonderful and strange sign. The Cross has opened paradise, has admitted the thief, and has guided the human race from impending disaster to the kingdom of God.”

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About the year 626, the Persians, Avars, and Slavs came with a great host and besieged the imperial city of Constantinople while the Emperor Heraclius and the main body of the Byzantine army were absent in the East. Enemy ships filled the sea, especially the Golden Horn, and on land the adversaries were ready for attack with foot-soldiers, horses, and engines of war. Though the citizens courageously withstood them, yet they were few in number and would be unable to repulse the attack of such a great host. Hence, they could not count on any other means of salvation, except the protection of the Theotokos.

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