Venerable Anthusa of Constantinople (Omonia)

Venerable Anthusa of Constantinople (also called Anthusa of Omonia, c. 757 – c. 809) was a Byzantine ascetic, daughter of the iconoclast emperor Constantine V Copronymus. One tradition names her mother as Constantine's third wife Eudokia; another holds she was the daughter of his first, Khazar wife and twin sister of the future emperor Leo IV the Khazar. She was named after the holy abbess Anthusa of Mantinea, who had foretold her safe birth. Despite her father's wish that she marry, Anthusa preserved her virginity. After his death she distributed her inheritance to the poor, churches, and monasteries, and repeatedly declined Empress Irene's invitations to take part in governing. She received monastic tonsure from Patriarch Tarasius, then became abbess of the Omonia Monastery in Constantinople, which she never again left, known for humility in menial service to her sisters. She reposed peacefully at fifty-two.