Menas of Constantinople

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Saint Menas of Constantinople (also Minas) was a 6th‑century church leader born in Alexandria. He became a priest and the director of the Hospital of Sampson in Constantinople, with links to Sampson the Hospitable, and he is said to have helped heal Emperor Justinian I from the plague in 542. On 13 March 536, Justinian I appointed him Patriarch of Constantinople, and Pope Agapetus I consecrated him to succeed Anthimus I, who had been condemned as monophysite. Soon after his election, Menas was ordered by the emperor to call a synod to examine Anthimus, which led to Anthimus’ condemnation in 536.

During his time, Menas dealt with major theological disputes, including opposition to Origen and the Three-Chapter Controversy, a debate over certain writings that affected church unity. His patriarchate is seen as the peak of papal influence in Constantinople. The period also saw the rise of a miaphysite network of bishops that eventually helped form the Syrian Orthodox Church. Hagia Sophia, the great church in Constantinople, was consecrated during his tenure. In 551, Justinian urged Menas to call the Second Council of Constantinople to seek East–West reconciliation on the Three-Chapter issue; the council was later chaired by his successor Eutychius in 553. Menas died peacefully on 25 August 552. His feast day is celebrated on 25 August in both the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic traditions.