St. Methodius of Sicily

Methodius was born in Sicily in the late 8th century. Since his parents were prosperous, they were able to send him to the imperial city of Constantinople for further education. There Methodius responded to a vocation to the monastic life. He suffered persecution at the hands of iconoclastic emperors but was ultimately elected bishop and patriarch of Constantinople. In 843 he presided over the formal restoration of icons, an event celebrated annually in Orthodox Churches and known as “the Triumph of Orthodoxy.” Since Methodius died in Constantinople in 847, he is also known as Methodius of Constantinople and, since he is the first of several patriarchs by the same name, St. Methodius I.  - bio by Dr. Italy.