Anthusa of Constantinople
{{use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox saint
| honorific_prefix= Saint
|name=Anthusa of Constantinople
|birth_date=750 or 757 AD
|image=Anfusa Omoniskaya.jpg
|caption=An icon of Anthusa of Constantinople
|birth_place=Constantinople, Byzantine Empire
|death_date=801 or 808 AD (aged 51 or 57)
|death_place=Byzantine Empire
|feast_day=27 July (Catholic) and
12 & 18 April (Orthodox)
|venerated_in=Eastern Orthodox Church
Anthusa of Constantinople (Greek: Ανθούσα) commonly known as Saint Anthusa of Constantinople and in Orthodox usage as Saint Anthousa the Younger (750 or 757 – 801 or 808 AD) is a saint venerated in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church. Anthusa's feast days in the Orthodox Church are 12 and 18 April, while her feast in the Catholic Church is 27 July.{{Cite web|title=St. Anthusa of Constantinople|url=http://ww1.antiochian.org/node/18238|website=Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=14 May 2020}}{{Cite web|title=Saint Anthusa - Newman Connection - Effingham, IL|url=http://www.newmanconnection.com/faith/saint/saint-anthusa|website=www.newmanconnection.com|access-date=2020-05-15}}{{Cite web|title=List of Saints and short information|url=http://users.uoa.gr/~nektar/orthodoxy/agiologion/saints_08th-10th_centuries/info_saints.htm|website=users.uoa.gr|access-date=2020-05-15}} In the Catholic Church, Anthusa is patroness of convents and abbeys. She was the daughter of Byzantine Emperor Constantine V.
Life
= Childhood =
During a campaign in Paphlagonia, Emperor Constantine V summoned the abbess Anthusa of Mantinea (Saint Anthousa the Elder), who he had tortured earlier for worshipping icons, and asked for her prayers due to the difficulty of the empress' pregnancy.{{Cite web|title=Venerable Anthusa of Constantinople|url=https://www.oca.org/saints/lives/1949/04/12/101067-venerable-anthusa-of-constantinople|website=www.oca.org|access-date=2020-05-15}} The abbess predicted the birth of twins, and the daughter was named in her honor.
Anthusa of Constantinople was the daughter of the iconoclast Byzantine Emperor Constantine V and one of his wives. Details about her Anthusa's birth are uncertain. According to one source, she and her brother, the future Emperor Leo the Khazar, were twins born on 25 January 750 to Constantine's first wife (i.e. Tzitzak), while another states that she was born in 757, a date which would make Eudokia her mother and rule out the possibility of being a twin, given that it is known for certain that Leo was born on the former date.Grierson, Philip (2001). Scritti Storici E Numismatici. Centro Italiano di Studi sull'Alto Medioevo. p. 273. {{ISBN|9788879882446}}.
= Religious life =
When Anthusa became of age, her father urged her to marry. However, Anthusa desired monasticism and did not follow the emperor's orders. After the death of her father, Anthusa used all her personal property to help the poor and the orphaned. The devout Empress Irene, Leo's consort and therefore Anthusa's sister-in-law, regarded Anthusa highly and invited her to be her co-regent during the minority of Constantine VI. However, Anthusa declined the offer. At court, she wore clothes befitting her position as the late emperor's daughter, but underneath her elaborate clothes, she wore a hair-shirt.
Anthusa entered the monastery of Saint Euthymia. She was later tonsured by Patriarch Tarasios of Constantinople, and she founded the Omonoia Monastery ("omonoia" means 'concord' or 'charity') in Constantinople, which became known for its strict regulations.
= Death =
References
Category:Greek Roman Catholic saints
Category:Eastern Orthodox royal saints
Category:9th-century Christian nuns
Category:Byzantine female saints
Category:8th-century Byzantine women
Category:8th-century Byzantine people
Category:9th-century Byzantine women
Category:Daughters of Byzantine emperors