Saint Paul I the Confessor and Hieromartyr Archbishop of Constantinople
Date of celebration: 06/11
Saint Paul was born in Thessaloniki, at the beginning of the 4th century AD. and was the secretary of His Holiness Patriarch Alexander of Constantinople (see August 30).
When Alexander died in 377 AD, Paul was elected Patriarch. The emperor Constantius, when he was informed about it, resented it, since he was a follower of the Arians heresy. When Constantius returned from Antioch to Constantinople, he removed Paul from the patriarchal throne and arbitrarily proclaimed the Martian Nicomedia Eusebius Patriarch. Then Saint Paul went to Rome. There he found Athanasius the Great (see January 18), whom Constantius had removed from the Patriarchate of Alexandria.
After being informed of the events, Emperor Constans sent a letter to his brother Constantius, protesting his attitude. So Paul and Athanasius were reinstated.
Unfortunately after some time Konstas died. So Constantius ordered, from Antioch where he was, to remove Paul from the Patriarchal throne. In fact, he exiled him to Kukusso, Armenia.
One day when he was celebrating the Divine Liturgy, Martians rushed upon him and choked him with his own shoulder blade. Thus the Saint finished and surrendered his soul to the Lord.
In 385 AD, the incorruptible Relic of Saint Paul was moved to Constantinople during the reign of Theodosius the Great. It was initially deposited in the Church of Agia Irini and then in a church in his honor. The Relic was transferred to Venice in 1226 AD. and was deposited in the women’s Monastery of Agios Lorentzos, where the Relics of Saint Barbara the Myroblytos and Saint Candide were also kept. Unknown under what circumstances the Relic was lost, only to be found in 1493 AD. During the recognition of 1686 AD the Vollandist C. Jannik established and described the integrity of the Relic.
