St. Plato
Plato of Sakkudion,
Feast day: April 4
Born in Constantinople, 734;
Died on March 19, 813.
Saint Plato was younger than 13 when his parents were killed by a plague afflicting Constantinople. At that time, his uncle, the high treasurer of the empire, took over his education and Plato acted as his apprentice. He was accomplished at taking down business affairs in shorthand, yet even more advanced in affairs of the spirit.
Because of his high birth, virtue, and skill, he came to be regarded as a prize catch for those seeking a husband for their daughters. Plato, however, was more attracted to prayer and seclusion than marriage. He convinced his three brothers to devote themselves to God, and live in a state of celibacy. Then, seeking to free himself from worldly attachments, he freed all his slaves and sold his large estates. Before retiring to Symboleon on Mount Olympus, Bithynia, he used some of the money to obtain spouses for his two sisters--who became the mothers of saints--and distributed the rest among the poor.
Having discharged his duties, Plato bid adieu to his family, friends, and country and travelled with one servant to Bithynia (now in Turkey). There he sent his servant back to Constantinople with all his clothes except the coarse ones that he was wearing and entered the monastery Symboleon. There Plato made great progress in his spiritual growth through the practice of humility, devotion, and obedience under the guidance of the holy abbot Theoctistus.
Prayer and pious reading were the delight of his soul. In the hours allotted to labor he rejoiced to see the meanest employments assigned to him from making bread to fertilizing the fields with manure, though his skills were usually employed in copying manuscripts. When Theoctistus died in 770, the 36-year-old Plato was chosen abbot against his will. In order to ensure that such power would not corrupt him, he increased the severity of his penances: He never drank anything but water (sometimes only once in two days); his diet was bread, beans, or herbs without oil. He would never eat or wear anything which was not purchased by the labor of his own hands; by which he also maintained several poor.
After the death of the tyrant Constantine Copronymus, Saint Plato went to Constantinople on business and was received with great honor. He used this opportunity to encourage others to grow in holiness and love of virtue. The patriarch unsuccessfully tried to convince Plato to receive episcopal consecration, but Plato escaped back to his refuge at Symboleon.
In 782, his family prevailed upon him to leave Symboleon and take over the governance of Sakkudion Monastery near Constantinople, which was founded by his sister Theoctista. Her whole family embraced the religious state and it was fitting that Plato should join them. After directing Sakkudion for 12 years, he resigned in favor of his nephew, Saint Theodore Studites.
Life became difficult for Saint Plato when he opposed the actions of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who repudiated his empress, Mary, and took to his bed Theodota, a relative of Saint Plato. Patriarch Saint Tarasius unsuccessfully threatened and exhorted the emperor against this action; Plato went further. He published a sentence of excommunication against the emperor among the monks. Joseph, the treasurer of the church, and several other mercenary priests and monks, tried to convince Plato to approve the emperor's divorce; but he resisted their solicitations and the emperor's own plea. Instead he suffered imprisonment and other hardships till the death of Constantine in 797.
When the Saracens invaded Byzantium, the monks of Sakkudion abandoned their monastery and moved to the Studium, which had been almost destroyed by the persecution of Constantine Copronymus. There Saint Plato vowed obedience to his nephew Theodore and retired to a narrow cell so that he could engage in perpetual prayer and manual labor. He chained one foot to the ground with a heavy iron chain that he carefully hid with his cloak when anyone came to see him.
When Saint Nicephorus, a layman of great virtue, was appointed patriarch of Constantinople in 806, Saint Plato opposed it because of the irregularity of naming a layman as bishop. Opposition to Plato increased when, in 807, Emperor Nicephorus appointed Joseph, the priest who had married the adulteress to the emperor Constantine, was restored his position as treasurer of the church. Plato loudly condemned the emperor's action as contrary to the discipline of the church. The emperor retaliated by placing him under house arrest for a year, before calling him to account at a council of court bishops. Then he was unjustly convicted of fictitious crimes and sentenced to banishment on an island in the Bosphorus for four years.
Although the repentant emperor died before mitigating Plato's sentence, his successor, Michael I, immediately restored the saint to grace and received him with great respect. Plato retired again to his cell and perceiving that he was near death, he asked that his grave to be dug, and himself to be carried to it and laid down by it. Here he was visited by Constantinople's dignitaries, including Patriarch Saint Nicephorus, who had been reconciled to Plato and who performed his funeral rites. Plato's vita was written by his nephew, Saint Theodore
Plato of Sakkudion,
Feast day: April 4
Born in Constantinople, 734;
Died on March 19, 813.
Saint Plato was younger than 13 when his parents were killed by a plague afflicting Constantinople. At that time, his uncle, the high treasurer of the empire, took over his education and Plato acted as his apprentice. He was accomplished at taking down business affairs in shorthand, yet even more advanced in affairs of the spirit.
Because of his high birth, virtue, and skill, he came to be regarded as a prize catch for those seeking a husband for their daughters. Plato, however, was more attracted to prayer and seclusion than marriage. He convinced his three brothers to devote themselves to God, and live in a state of celibacy. Then, seeking to free himself from worldly attachments, he freed all his slaves and sold his large estates. Before retiring to Symboleon on Mount Olympus, Bithynia, he used some of the money to obtain spouses for his two sisters--who became the mothers of saints--and distributed the rest among the poor.
Having discharged his duties, Plato bid adieu to his family, friends, and country and travelled with one servant to Bithynia (now in Turkey). There he sent his servant back to Constantinople with all his clothes except the coarse ones that he was wearing and entered the monastery Symboleon. There Plato made great progress in his spiritual growth through the practice of humility, devotion, and obedience under the guidance of the holy abbot Theoctistus.
Prayer and pious reading were the delight of his soul. In the hours allotted to labor he rejoiced to see the meanest employments assigned to him from making bread to fertilizing the fields with manure, though his skills were usually employed in copying manuscripts. When Theoctistus died in 770, the 36-year-old Plato was chosen abbot against his will. In order to ensure that such power would not corrupt him, he increased the severity of his penances: He never drank anything but water (sometimes only once in two days); his diet was bread, beans, or herbs without oil. He would never eat or wear anything which was not purchased by the labor of his own hands; by which he also maintained several poor.
After the death of the tyrant Constantine Copronymus, Saint Plato went to Constantinople on business and was received with great honor. He used this opportunity to encourage others to grow in holiness and love of virtue. The patriarch unsuccessfully tried to convince Plato to receive episcopal consecration, but Plato escaped back to his refuge at Symboleon.
In 782, his family prevailed upon him to leave Symboleon and take over the governance of Sakkudion Monastery near Constantinople, which was founded by his sister Theoctista. Her whole family embraced the religious state and it was fitting that Plato should join them. After directing Sakkudion for 12 years, he resigned in favor of his nephew, Saint Theodore Studites.
Life became difficult for Saint Plato when he opposed the actions of Emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus, who repudiated his empress, Mary, and took to his bed Theodota, a relative of Saint Plato. Patriarch Saint Tarasius unsuccessfully threatened and exhorted the emperor against this action; Plato went further. He published a sentence of excommunication against the emperor among the monks. Joseph, the treasurer of the church, and several other mercenary priests and monks, tried to convince Plato to approve the emperor's divorce; but he resisted their solicitations and the emperor's own plea. Instead he suffered imprisonment and other hardships till the death of Constantine in 797.
When the Saracens invaded Byzantium, the monks of Sakkudion abandoned their monastery and moved to the Studium, which had been almost destroyed by the persecution of Constantine Copronymus. There Saint Plato vowed obedience to his nephew Theodore and retired to a narrow cell so that he could engage in perpetual prayer and manual labor. He chained one foot to the ground with a heavy iron chain that he carefully hid with his cloak when anyone came to see him.
When Saint Nicephorus, a layman of great virtue, was appointed patriarch of Constantinople in 806, Saint Plato opposed it because of the irregularity of naming a layman as bishop. Opposition to Plato increased when, in 807, Emperor Nicephorus appointed Joseph, the priest who had married the adulteress to the emperor Constantine, was restored his position as treasurer of the church. Plato loudly condemned the emperor's action as contrary to the discipline of the church. The emperor retaliated by placing him under house arrest for a year, before calling him to account at a council of court bishops. Then he was unjustly convicted of fictitious crimes and sentenced to banishment on an island in the Bosphorus for four years.
Although the repentant emperor died before mitigating Plato's sentence, his successor, Michael I, immediately restored the saint to grace and received him with great respect. Plato retired again to his cell and perceiving that he was near death, he asked that his grave to be dug, and himself to be carried to it and laid down by it. Here he was visited by Constantinople's dignitaries, including Patriarch Saint Nicephorus, who had been reconciled to Plato and who performed his funeral rites. Plato's vita was written by his nephew, Saint Theodore
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