What makes Justinian a "saint?"

ArmyMatt

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He was venerated in the east. In fact both he and his wife (who was non-chalcedonian) are saints. He built Hagia Sophia and modernized the royal city, he completely codified and rewrote civil law. He is basically the Father of womens rights especially for poor women with the help of his wife. He reoriented Roman society towards being more conducive to work out ones salvation. Etc

his wife wasn't non-Chalcedonian. she just encouraged them because she thought the schism would end soon.

anyways, he also wrote brilliant apologies against Nestorianism, Monophysitism, and the errors of Severus of Antioch.
 
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buzuxi02

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his wife wasn't non-Chalcedonian. she just encouraged them because she thought the schism would end soon.

anyways, he also wrote brilliant apologies against Nestorianism, Monophysitism, and the errors of Severus of Antioch.
He was a theologian as well very true. Also he was the architect for creating an advanced christian city which lasted centuries. Even though we credit Constantine for Byzantium, It was really Justinian transformed Constantinople into a golden age.
 
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dzheremi

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As I've been told of the Eastern Orthodox Church, there is a belief among you that Justinian wrote the hymn "O Monogenes Yios". If that is correct, by that he gave Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox a hymn to express Orthodox Christology. (We also chant this hymn, even though we attribute its authorship to Severus of Antioch, who is obviously considered a heretic in your view.)

That's pretty good, I think. :)
 
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Phronema

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He reoriented Roman society towards being more conducive to work out ones salvation. Etc

Agreed, and he also built a few monasteries which are well known today like St. Catherine's on Mt. Sinai, Our Lady of Saidnaya, and St. George's Monasteries. Thank God the latter two have survived so far during the civil war there.

If I'm not mistaken he passed Imperial laws in favor of monastic life as well.
 
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Barney2.0

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I thought Theodora was Miaphysite, she certainly backed it and I believe she’s venerated by the Non-Chalcedonians in contrast to her husband whose considered an oppressor of the Non-Chalcedonians. Theodora was also ethnically Syrian by birth.
 
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Barney2.0

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no, she wasn't. she just supported them because she felt the schism could be healed.
The Non-Chalcedonians seemed to hold that she was Miaphysite, perhaps @dzheremi could I enlighten us on that.
 
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ArmyMatt

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The Non-Chalcedonians seemed to hold that she was Miaphysite, perhaps @dzheremi could I enlighten us on that.

I've never heard of them venerating her like we do, and even though she had miaphysite leanings, she was always a member of the Chalcedonian Church as far as I can tell.
 
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Barney2.0

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I've never heard of them venerating her like we do, and even though she had miaphysite leanings, she was always a member of the Chalcedonian Church as far as I can tell.
Well the Miaphysite and Chalcedonian Churches weren’t really separate at the time, it was pretty much a theological conflict within the imperial Church until the elections of separate patriarchs, one Chalcedonian and one Non-Chalcedonian for each see, it was only after the election of dual patriarchs for each party that the schism really began and Theodora seemed to back the Miaphysites and undermine the Chalcedonians. However I don’t know that much so I may be wrong. Here’s how the and Syrians view her:

ܐܦܛܪܘܦܘܬܐ ܦܛܪܝܪܟܝܬܐ ܕܡܪܥܝܬܐ ܕܐܘܚܕ̈ܢܐ ܡܥܪ̈ܒܝܐ ܕܐܡܝܪܟܐ
 
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buzuxi02

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The Non-Chalcedonians seemed to hold that she was Miaphysite, perhaps @dzheremi could I enlighten us on that.
I'm pretty sure she is a saint in the OO church. But maybe Dzheremi can confirm. Some say Justinian and Theodora played good cop, bad cop. I imagine she attended Chalcedonian churches with her husband. But she was certainly sympathetic to the OO''s.
 
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dzheremi

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The Non-Chalcedonians seemed to hold that she was Miaphysite, perhaps @dzheremi could I enlighten us on that.

I could not find her in the Coptic synaxarium which is available in English online (that doesn't necessarily mean anything, as it is incomplete), but here is a bit on her from the Ethiopian synaxarium I have (the one that is translated by Wallace Budge). With the understanding that I am posting this in response to requests for information and not to start a fight, from the entry on February 21 (Ethiopian calendar: Yekatit 14), we read as part of the entry on Severus of Antioch the following description:

Now he (Severus) only remained in his office for a few days, for the emperor died, and there reigned in his stead another emperor, who was an infidel, and who believed in the Council or Chalcedon, and whose name was Justinian; now the queen, whose name was Theodora, belonged to the True Faith. And the emperor was afraid of this saint, for [he refused] to enter the unclean faith [of Chalcedon], and he would not obey him. And then the emperor was exceedingly wroth with him, and he imagined that the saint was afraid of him, and would submit to him; but the saint would not hearken to his command, and he was not afraid of his wrath. And the emperor wished to kill him secretly, but the righteous Queen Theodora, knowing this, warned the saint to flee from the face of the emperor, and he went forth secretly.
+++

While I haven't read it myself, Susan Ashbrook Harvey (of Holy Women of the Syrian Orient fame), has written on the place of Empress Theodora in the Syriac Orthodox tradition in her work Theodora the "Believing Queen": A Study in Syriac Historiographical Tradition (2011), which is available from Gorgias Press (where else) if you happen to have a spare zillion dollars lying around. I believe that originally appeared in an issue of Hugoye (Syriac studies journal), though I don't know which one.

So it seems that the Ethiopians and Syriacs venerate her, the Copts maybe not (there are several Theodoras in the synaxarium, but none of them are the empress), and as usual I have no idea about the Armenians.

As you might imagine given our less uniform practices (in comparison to the EO), it wouldn't be unheard of to have a figure venerated as a saint in some churches and not in others.
 
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Barney2.0

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monoenergism and monothelitism.
How did he advocate Monothelitism, wasn’t that formed by groups that branches out of the Chalcedonian Church. Severus taught that the will of Christ was One will out of two similar to his nature One out of two. I’m not also not exactly sure how he advocated Monoenergism though.
 
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ArmyMatt

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How did he advocate Monothelitism, wasn’t that formed by groups that branches out of the Chalcedonian Church. Severus taught that the will of Christ was One will out of two similar to his nature One out of two. I’m not also not exactly sure how he advocated Monoenergism though.

no, monothelitism and monoenergism were two bargaining chips that were in the debates between the Chalcedonians and non-Chalcedonians. after Constantinople 2 and Justin II's Henotikon, many of the non-Chalcedonians were willing to accept Chalcedon if we would have accepted either a single will or energy in Christ.

and this was what got Severus hung up and condemned.
 
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