732–814
Saint Plato of Sakkoudion
Uncle and spiritual guide of Theodore the Studite, an abbot who fought against Iconoclasm.
Biography
Plato was born in Constantinople in 732 and served at first as an imperial notary, before renouncing the world to become a monk at the Monastery of the Symbols on Mount Olympus in Asia Minor. He later founded his own monastery, Sakkoudion, near Prousa, where he became abbot together with his nephew Theodore.
Because of barbarian raids he moved with his community to Constantinople, to the then-ruined Stoudios Monastery, which he restored. His strictness brought him into conflict with Emperor Constantine VI over the emperor's marriage, and he later fought against Iconoclasm alongside Theodore the Studite, enduring repeated exiles until his death in 814.