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10
The discovery of the Holy Cross by St. Helena is annually celebrated on September 14. This text
maintains that St. Helena left part of the Cross in the care of the patriarch of Jerusalem, while the
rest she entrusted to the patriarch of Constantinople. She also brought the nails of Jesus’
crucifixion to her son, who put them on his helmet and on the harness of his horse.
11
Ibid., 347.
12
Ibid., 336, fn. 13. Helena and Constantinus lived in Nicomedia, Bitnynia, one of the four capital
cities of the empire. Constantinus succeeded his father after he died in Eboracum (York) in AD 306
(ibid., 332, fn. 1 and 334, fn. 7).
13
Constantinus married Minervina and had a son, Crispus, whom he had killed – an act associated
with his second wife, Fausta, daughter of Maximianus, whom he also had killed afterwards (ibid.,
333, fn. 5). With Fausta he had Constantius and Constans, Constantina and Helena. He may have
also had an illegitimate son, Constantinus (ibid., 342‐343, fn. 3).
14
Ibid., 339, fn. 3.
15
Ibid., 336, fn. 15.
16
The emperor ruled as the representative of God on Earth. He could dethrone the patriarch of
Constantinople, but not defy his moral judgment, especially when that corresponded to public
opinion.
17
Ioannis Chrysostomos became patriarch of Constantinople in AD 398, was forced to leave in
403, was restored under the pressure of public opinion, and exiled again in 404. He died in 407.
18
Miterikon, vol.VI, 350‐353. C. Baronius set the 27th of December as the commemoration day of
St. Nikareti (“Victorious virtue”) (ibid., 353, fn.5).
19
Perhaps she was exiled to Nicomedia, and she may have died there, as it happened with the
deaconess Olympias, who had also inherited property in Nicomedia through her grandfather
Avlavios.
20
On deaconesses, Miterikon, vol. IV, 14, fn. 4 and 52, fn. 1. See also Alexandre, “Early Christian
Women”, 423‐424, 429, 432: “As the Church moved toward greater institutionalization, women
did not hold well‐defined ministries. Certain distinct groups of women did form, however. One
such was the cherai, or widows, [… and the diakonissai] deaconesses […] the deaconess’ duties
were limited to the service of other women” – anointing, teaching, assisting the sick. “[…]
feminine monasticism eventually subsumed these roles”.
21
D. Tsamis, general introduction to Miterikon, vol. I, 16. See also Alexandre, “Early Christian
Women”, 415. The mothers of the desert were called ammas (Miterikon, vol. I, 14).
22
Under the guidance of St. Auxentios (Syria, c. AD 420 ‐ Bithynia, AD 470) many men and women
lived in the area as hermits and a number of monasteries were founded (Miterikon, vol.VII, 65, fn.
4).
23
Ibid., 64‐67.
24
Elefthera, “Stephanis by surname”, was a cubicularia (Latin for chamberlain), that is, an
exceptional member of the royal court (ibid., 64, fn. 1 and 3).
25
Elefthera offered the saint some holy relics she had in her possession (ibid., 65).
26
Mafortium, in Latin, omoforion in Greek, was a short vestment, covering the shoulders and the
back, worn by both men and women, especially ascetics, at the Early Christian era (ibid., p. 67, fn.
10).
27
Iconomachy was subverted by two women, empress Irene the Athenian, in AD 787, and finally
empress Theodora, in AD 842.
28
Stephanos the New, born in Constantinople around AD 713 and baptized by patriarch
Germanos I, was brought by his father and his mother Anna at the Mt. of Auxentios, where he
lived as a hermit, exercising in calligraphy. He founded a monastery that became a center of
resistance against Iconomachy in the years of emperor Constantine V. He was accused for
improperly making Georgios Syncleticos, member of the royal court, a monk, was imprisoned in
Constantinople, tortured and died on November 28, 764 (Miterikon, vol. V, 36, fn. 1).
29
Ibid., 36‐43.
30
Ibid., 42, fn. 11.
31
Miterikon, vol. IV, 193, fn. 2.
32
Ibid., 192‐231. The first text is a letter that Theodoros sent from the Monastery of Sakkoudion to his
dying mother at Constantinople and the second is an obituary he wrote after her death. St. Theoktisti is
celebrated on December 20.
33
St. Theodoros Stouditis was born in AD 759. In 780 he became a monk at the family Monastery
776