When the first imperial advisor Tarasius, as a layman, was elected Patriarch of Constantinople, then several of his friends, including Theophylact, received monastic orders from him and from him. Tarasius sent him as bishop to Nicomedia. When Leo the Armenian came to the imperial throne, although the iconoclastic heresy was condemned at the Seventh Ecumenical Council, he wanted to replace Orthodoxy with it. Saint Theophylact openly resisted him, saying: “O emperor, a fierce destruction will come upon you suddenly, and you will not find anyone to deliver you from it.” Therefore, Saint Theophylact, by order of the emperor, was removed from his position and sent into captivity, where, enduring many hardships and insults, he lived for 30 years. He gave up his soul to the Lord Jesus Christ around the year 845.

Holy Hieromartyr Theodoret. Easter Lent.