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Saint Parthenios III (or Parthenakis) Patriarch of Constantinople
Celebration date: 24/03
This young Hieromartyr came from Mytilene and was the son of pious parents. Parthenios devoted himself to studies and became one of the wise men of the 17th century. He was ordained a priest and later became High Priest and pastor of Chios. At the end of 1656 he became Patriarch of Constantinople, as the successor of Patriarch Parthenius II. As a Metropolitan, but also as a Patriarch, he emerged as a pious, good, scholar and zealous man of good things and piety. As Patriarch, he particularly developed Greek education. Some of his letters, however, fell into the hands of the High Gate, which considered its content revolutionary. Thus the then Sultan Ibrahim I ordered the death of Patriarch Parthenius. “Thus he was arrested and they were pressuring him to accept Islam in order to save himself. But Parthenios remained steadfast in his faith. Then on Lazarus Saturday, March 24, 1657, he was hanged at the Parmak-Kapu Barred Gate. By order of M. Veziri Mehmet Kiupoulos, the relic remained hanging for three days and then it was thrown into the sea. Later the Christians took it and buried it on an island “the so-called Princes”. Martyrdom of this Saint, Syrigos Meletios wrote.