Saint Marcian

Life

Marcian was born in Rome, but as a presbyter lived out his life to the end in Constantinople, for the most part during the reign of Marcian and Pulcheria. Having inherited great wealth from his parents, he spent it unsparingly on two purposes: on building or renovating churches and on alms for the poor. He built two new churches in Constantinople, famous for their beauty and holiness: Saint Anastasia and Saint Irene. When they asked him why he spent so much on churches, he answered: "If I had a daughter, and wanted to marry her to some nobleman, would I not spend much gold to adorn her as a worthy bride? But here I am adorning the Church, the bride of Christ." As much as this wondrous man was generous toward churches and the poor, so much was he harsh, and very harsh, toward himself, following the apostolic counsel: "And having food and raiment let us be therewith content" (I Timothy 6:8). It is written of him: "He was all in God and God in him, and he presented himself to God filled with years and good deeds," in the year 471.