Venerable Thaddeus the Confessor of the Studion

Saint Thaddeus the Confessor, a disciple of Theodore the Studite, was a defender of the veneration of holy icons. He was brought to trial and suffered during the reign of Leo V (813-820). The heretics, mocking St Thaddeus, put an icon of the Savior on the ground, picked the saint up, and stood him upon it.

After this the judge said, “You have trampled upon the icon of Christ. There is no point in further resistance, so join us.” Thaddeus replied that he had been placed upon the icon involuntarily, and he cursed the impiety of the iconoclasts. Enraged by his bold words, they beat him with cudgels. Then they dragged the martyr by the legs and threw him outside the city walls. He appeared to be dead, but he was still alive. A certain Christian took him into his own home and washed his wounds. St Thaddeus lived another three days, and then surrendered his soul to God.