On the advice of Patriarch Paul of Constantinople, who left the throne and went to a monastery where he received the great schema, in 783, a senator and imperial advisor at Constantine's court, Tarasius, a man of high education and zeal for the faith, was elected as his successor. Under him, the Seventh Ecumenical Council of Nicaea was convened, at which iconoclasm was condemned and the veneration of holy icons was established. As merciful as he was to the orphans, he was as harsh as he was to the proud. When Emperor Constantine banished his lawful wife Mary, he lived with a relative of his. Patriarch Tarasius did not give him his blessing to marry her, but first advised him, then rebuked him, and finally excluded him from communion. He reposed in the Lord in 806.

Venerable Paphnutius Kevalas. Easter Lent.