SAINT TARASIUS was born in 730 in Constantinople and although he was a trusted advisor to Emperor Constantine, lived a monastic life. In 784, after initially refusing election as Patriarch of Constantinople, Tarasius accepted on condition that differences between the Eastern and Western traditions on the subject of the veneration of icons be resolved. Tarasius served as Patriach for 22 years before his death in 806 and was buried at a monastery he built on the Bosphorous.