St. Nicholas Studites

Abbot A native of Sydonia, Crete, he studied at the Studius Monastery in Constantinople, modern Istanbul, Turkey, and became a monk there at the age of eighteen. An opponent of Iconoclasticism, he assisted the monks who were subjected to persecution by the imperial government, continuing his opposition to Iconoclasts after his own election as abbot. In 858, Emperor Michael III exiled St. Ignatius and installed Photius as patriarch of Constantinople. Nicholas refused to acknowledge Photius and voluntarily went into exile until the accession of the new emperor, Basil I. As Nicholas considered himself too old to serve, he gave himself to the life of a monk until his death. He was brought back to his monastery and imprisoned there just before he died.