By Fr. George Dorbarakis
Saint Tarasios defined as dogma the veneration of the august and holy icons, and through him the imperial and Roman authority returned to the venerable traditions of the Holy Apostles and of the Ecumenical Synods, and the Holy Church was united with the other Patriarchates. Tarasios lived piously and became respected by the emperors, and he also founded a sacred monastery beyond the strait, where he gathered multitudes of monks. He was very merciful to the poor, governed the Church well for twenty-two years and two months, and reposed in peace; his body was then laid in the monastery built by himself. In bodily appearance he was in every way like Gregory the Theologian, except for his age and the scar beneath his eye. For he was not altogether advanced in years.
Three are the levels that the hymnography of the feast of Saint Tarasios sets forth:
First: his spiritual ascetic conduct, by which he surpassed the passions of the flesh and lived a theoretic, angelic life (“Having laid aside all the earthly element of your flesh through the toils of self-restraint, Tarasios, you passed your life on earth as one equal to the angels.” - Ode 8).
Second: his orthodox shepherding of his flock, through the preaching of the Orthodox dogmas — above all the veneration of the holy icons — and the combating of heresies (“You established, Tarasios, upon the unshaken rock of Orthodoxy the wavering mind of men, and you shook the foundations of delusion and cast down the bases of the heresies.” - Ode 1); “You shepherded the imperial city in Orthodoxy, driving away the beasts of heresies, O divinely-inspired one, proclaiming the veneration of the venerable icons.” - Kathisma of Orthros).
Third: his immense philanthropic activity on behalf of the poor and needy, the fruit of his heart filled with mercy and love (“Having as an inexhaustible stream of mercy your disposition, O hierarch, you poured forth the ever-flowing fountains of beneficence for the needy.” - Ode 5), which continued also through his various miracles (“as a great sun, with the rays of your dogmas and miracles, you ever enlighten the fullness of the inhabited world.” - Kontakion).
The modest Hymnographer of Saint Tarasios, George — indeed a well-known hymnographer of our Church — wishing to present vividly and concretely to the faithful the magnitude of his sanctity, portrays him as a living icon and pillar standing before us, calling us to follow him in what he strove to possess in his life: faith and the virtues. “As a living icon and pillar, O Tarasios, set before us, alive with virtues and faith, you cry out without ceasing by deeds and words, O wise one, and exhort all the faithful to your own imitation” (Ode 9). In this way the Hymnographer proclaims Saint Tarasios’ boldness before God. For only one who has become an imitator of Christ, like the Apostle Paul, can have the courage to call others to follow him in his manner of life. Just as the Apostle said, “Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ,” so in the same way Saint Tarasios exhorted the faithful to imitate him. His life, therefore, rises to apostolic heights, as our Church presents him.
And it is remarkable in his life — as we also observe in the great Hierarchs and Fathers of our Church — that despite all his occupations as archbishop, he found time for profound study of Holy Scripture. How beautifully the hymn of his service expresses this (Ode 3): “Having plunged into the depth of the divinely-inspired Scripture, O wise Tarasios, you drew up from there the precious pearl.”
Likewise noteworthy is the fact that his institutional and administrative office did not harden his heart. His heart remained untouched, full of compassion toward all people, and especially toward the poor and the needy. As noted above, his heart and disposition were “an inexhaustible river of mercy and love.”
How greatly all the faithful ought to have the Saint as their example, and especially those who hold high offices, whether in the Church or in the state. For if offices do not make our heart more compassionate and are not regarded as a step toward greater love, they certainly have no meaning. Indeed, they may even become our condemnation.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
